Influence Of Masonry.

There are , as everybody knows , thousands of instances related where meta . have been saved from death , even among the rude and savage tribes , Avhere civilisation had no existence ; but we venture to say that this was the first instance which any of us had ever heard related by a party particularly

interested . AVithout much ursrins the Captain Avas prevailed upon to give us the story of the adventure , Avhich in substance is as folloAvs :

" Many years ago—the first voyage I ever made , by the way—I shipped as cabin boy in the old bri g Hope , commanded by Captain Roberts , —we sailed from Liverpool , bound for the port of Rio Janiero . There Avas nothing to mark the outward bound passage , aud nothing of interest transpired

Avhile we Avere in Rio , save that interest that everything had to me , a stranger iu a strange land , I will not attempt to describe my astonishment at the si ghts I saAv —of the quaint houses , the throngs from all nationsthe dress and the dialect of the

, people . Captain Roberts Avas very kind to me , and often took me ashore with him , and seemed to take a pleasure in answering my many questions , Avhich certainly Avas a condescension on his part . Sailoring was not in those clays Avhat it is IIOAV . I noticed

that A'ery often as Ave Avalked along the streets he Avould salute people , sometimes even stopping to shake hands Avith them ; they Avere from all nations , and 1 Avonderecl

at his extensive acquaintance , and boy-like I asked him about it . ' Why , ' said he , ' I do not knoAV one of them ; never saAv tliem before ; and probably shall never see them again ; they are Masons . I started back Avith something of horror , I suppose ,

as I asked him , ' Why you are not a Mason V And never shall I forget the feeling that came over me as he answered in the affirmative . Had he acknoAvledged that he belonged to a band of pirates and assassins , I could not have been more

shocked ; for , from earliest youth I had been trained up to the idea that Masonry Avas an evil principle—the fatal tempter of fallen mankind —that beneath the mantle of mystery that surrounded it Avas practised Pagan rites of idolatry ; that it abjured

the Christian religion , and that its members Avere joined together in unholy alliance hy the most frightful oaths aud ceremonies to defend one another against all assaults , and to wage an infernal war upon virtue . Do you Avonder that I Avas shocked ?

" AVe Avere not long m getting in our load , and then , Avith many a fond fareAvell in our hearts , Ave bade adieu to Rio , and turned again toAvards home . There was nothing Avorthy of note transpired until we arrived near the equator , when a dead calm fell , and for days Ave lay idle , Avith

not breeze enough to fill the sails that hung flapping against the masts . About the fourth day a slight breeze sprung up , the sails filled , and once more Ave heard the ripple of Avater under the boAvs of the Hope . " Breakfast Avas just over when the cry of ' Sail ho ! ' from the masthead attracted

the attention of all . Some ran up the rigging to catch a glimpse of the stranger , and in the course of an hour she was plainly to be seen from the deck . And then a hot controversy sprung up as to AVIIO and Avhat she was—so hot but for the

interference of the Captain there Avould have been a fight among the parties . I have often noticed that men are ahvays readiest to fight about that of AA'hich they knoAV the least . Still the ' Hope' held on , and as the hours went by the stranger steadily gained upon us . The ' Hope' Avas but a slow

sailor at the best , and by the middle of the afternoon she was Avithin but a feAv miles of us . Nearer she came , and still steadily gaining . And IIOAV Ave could see that her decks were crowded Avith men ; and then suddenly there floated up from the deck to

the masthead the black flag , and from the portholes grinned the muzzles of cannons . " Never shall I forget , to the longest clay of my life , the consternation that the sight of the flag produced among the creAv .

Some cried , some SAVore , others prayed , while some —I among the number—stood as if transfixed Avith horror at the sig ht of that emblem of death . Captain Roberts Avas the only man who was calm . Calling the men together , he told us , as Ave all

kneAV , that our hour had come ; that flight or resistance Avas alike impossible , and that all there , was to do Avas to die like brave men , and thus defeat the hell-hounds of the pleasure of seeing us terror-stricken . " I heard all he said , and yet I did not .

1 thought then of my home , and heard again the voice of my mother ; and there , on that foreign sea , I could have SAVorn I heard the old church bell , and it seemed to be tolling for the dead , "By this time the strange vessel was Avithin musket shot , when a voice hailed