The Mistletoe.

plished , the " all-heal ' s" type fulfilled , its shadoAvs merged into substance , and I read that " Peace on earth , good will ' mongst men" Avas only to be attained by honest sacrifice of self , purest love , unsAverving , never-ending charity . Rapidly , IIOAVmy mind revievred the

, past , aud I saAv—just as I had seen LoA'e Divine embodied iu human form , —precept becoming practice , and the false supplanted by the true ; for I beheld that ancient temple — once Druid-adopted , — now changed into an abode of brotherly love ;

Avhere , Avhilst the Most Hi gh Avas Avorshipped uo strife could enter in , no discord mar the perfect harmony of its brethren . Outside the baronial hall I saw the poor receive their dole , and go heart-li ghtened , gleefully aAvay .

Whilst , even amidst the modest revelry of my own old home , I noticed the " portions to be sent to those for whom nothing had been prepared , " to the joy of the orphan ' s and the AvidoAv ' s breast .

I was even beginning to see many a sour outside become softened within , and to perceive under a crabbed exterior a latent spark of that charitable mercy Avhich —• " Droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath : it is thrice blest ;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes : It is an attribute to God Himself , " . when the old familiar strain once more fell upon my ear , but this time it was Mary ' s voice again ;—the room too ?—Avhy

still the old , old , room in the clear old home . Could I , then , have been dreaming ? Yes , indeed , I had ; and my visions had been suggested by the talisman placed Avithin my hand by the mischievous Kate , the symbol of the kiss Avhich had disturbed my slumber , the tiny spray slipped from the bough of " THE MISTLETOE . "

Death.

DEATH .

Death to the virtuous no terror brings ; But in the tyrant's ear there eA'er rings A knell imaginary , Avhich casts a fear Throughout his soul : ho thinks the time is near When shall pass from him all his ill-got

power ; And , as he thinks on Death , he dreads the hour . GEORGE MARKHAM TWEDDELL .

The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY .

BY REV . GEO . OLIVER , D . D . CHAPTER III . THE SCARABJ : US . " The true original of Brute worship was the use of symbolic writing ; and if so , symbols were exin

tremely ancient ; for Brute worship Avas national the days of Moses . But symbols Avere invented for tho repository of Egyptian "Wisdom , divine and civil ; therefore the Egyptians were a very learned people from the most early times . " WAKBURTO . V . " The oblique course of the stars occasioned their representing them by the bodies of serpents ; but the Sun they likened to a Scarabseus , because this insect makes a round ball of beast's dung , and rolls it circularly , with its face opposed to that luminary . " PouriiTUT .

THE Isiac table contains a curious collection of hieroglyphics relating to the Mysteries of Isis , and amongst the rest , a copy of our anaglyph , accompanied by that universal symbol , the globe , serpent- and Avings . This monument , Avhich Avas in the possession of Cardinal Bembo in the

sixteenth century , Avhence it AV .-IS sometimes called the Bembine Table , was a beautiful specimen of ancient art . It Avas composed of brass covered over Avith black enamel , and curiously inlaid Avith silver plates , on which the hieroglyphics Avere engraven .

Several learned men have employed their ingenuity , at different periods , in its illustration ; and Pignorius and Montfaucon have Avritten tAvo several essays on this valuable remnant of antiquity , Avhich is

said to be at this time in the Museum at Turin . Modern investigation , however , has pronounced it to be spurious . The Marquis Spineto says , " This table , Avhich is five feet long and three feet Avide , is divided into several partitions , filled with

all sorts of hieroglyphics ; aud this strange mixture alone , independent of other reasons equallystrong , seems to establish the fact that it is a monument of modern date , fabricated at Rome towards the latter end of hieroglyphical Avriting by some person

Avho kneAv but little about the science , but who wished to exhibit some of the strange doctrines , rites and ceremonies , which had been introduced into the mysteries of Isis , Avhen they Avere established in Rome , but very different from those once celebrated in Egypt" *