Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

It is not improbable that George Holmes might have read the Sentimental Journey , for he was a man well versed in literature as ivell as in science and art . " At this period of universal information , " he writes , " while the historic and descriptive pages of the most distant climes are unfolded to our view , are we not naturall y to suppose those parts nearest the heart of the empire , through which a great portion of its life blood flows , should be intimately known ? Yet , strange to say , Ireland , which , for a space of six hundred years and morehas been politically connected withand continues to be

, , a powerful ancl valuable gem , in the crown of Great Britain , is less known to the people of England , in general , than the most remote regions . " And he might have quoted , as a proof of his assertion , the keen and careful observer , Laurence Sterne , travelling to France to find an illustration of what his native country was equally capable of supplying , as the interesting extract I have given abundantly proves . M y truly poetic friend , the late Charles Swain , has sweetly sung : —

" AVe oft destroy the present joy For future hopes—and praise them ; Whilst flowers as sweet bloom at our feet , If we 'd but stoop to raise them ! For things afar still sweetest are When youth's bright spell hath bound us ; But soon we ' re taught that earth has naught Like Home and Friends around us !''

And so it is : we traverse the globe for ivhat could more easily be found at home ; ive seek for pleasures beyond our reach , instead of enjoying those at our command ; we sigh for great opportunities to do good , instead of attending to the urgent calls for aid all around us ; and live and die like fools , rather than true philosophers , whose souls are constantly permeated ivith the Masonic feeling of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man , whatever his country , colour , or caste .

I hai'e received the fifty-fifth Annual Report of the Whitb y Literary and Philosophical Society , from ivhich I am glad to learn that their reall y interesting museum has been patronised by a greater number of visitors than before ; the sum taken for admission being £ 25 , ivhich , at sixpence each , represents one thousand visitors ; but , as servants and children are admitted for half-price , may probably hai'e been paid by a greiter number . Visitors to the sea-side too few of them have intellects sufficientl y developed

to appreciate a museum like that at Whitby , or it would be a disgrace to them to have visited that romantic watering-place for a few days without having seen its valuable collection of fossils , shells , stuffed birds , and other curiosities , such as perhaps no other town of its size in England can equal . From the number of learned ancl gifted men AVIIO have formerly belonged to , as well as those who now are members of this excellent institution , the nobility , clergy , and gentry of North Yorkshire should all be proud

to belong to it ; for no man is entitled to honour from his social position who does not prove by his actions that his tastes are much higher than those of the vulgar herd , and that he is ivilling to aid any good effort for cultivating a love of literature , science , and art . I notice the title page contains a vignette of the ancient Egyptian obelisk known as Cleopatra ' s Needle , recently brought to this country by the liberality of Bro , Erasmus Wilson and the skill of Bro . Dixon , I hope , ivhen fixed upondts proper basis ,

it Avill be Avelcomed to England by such a Masonic gathering as has never before been ivitnessed in the streets of London ; for that will certainly be a most opportune occasion to shoiv to the uninitiated , as ivell as to our Brothers of the Craft , that the Speculative Masons of the Present have not qiute cut all connection ivith their Operative Brethren of the Past . Rose Cottage , Stokesley .