Secrecy And Silence.

" Madam , and dear another * , you may well blame the senators for their long sitting , at least for calling in question a case so impertinent ; for , except the wives of the senators be admitted to consult thereon , there can be no hope of a

conclusion . I speak this but out of my young apprehension , for I know their gravity may easily confound me , and yet , whether nature or duty so instruct me , I cannot tell . To them it seems necessary , for the public good , that every senator should be allowed two wives—or otherwise their

waves two husbands . This rs the question , mother , and to-morrow it will be determined . " The mother hearing this , and seeing him apparently so unwilling to reveal it , took it for infallible truth . Her blood quickly fired , and

rage ensued . Such heats seldom admit of consideratioai ; on the contrary , they huny the senses and faculties to rashness and folly . She immediately sent to the other ladies and matrons of Rome to acquaint them with this weighty affair ,

wherein the peace and welfare of their whole lives were so nearly concerned . The melancholy news blew up such a brain-sick passion that the ladies immediately assembled ; and , though some say that a parliament of women is very seldom

governed by one speaker , yet this affair being so urgent , and the case on their behalf merely indulgent , the revealing woman spoke on behalf of herself and her sex . The next morning such a din arose outside of the Senate House , as if all

Rome was in an uproar . The ladies loudly demanded entrance , that they might sit and consult with their husbands on the weighty affair . The senators were confounded at the request , and demanded the reason of such unheard-of

desire ; whereupon the wife of Papirus made a long oration , and demanded that each woman should have two husbands , instead of each man having two wives . The fathers of the city looked aghast , till the young Papirus related the trick

he had p layed to evade his mother ' s demand ; whereupon the youth was praised for his fidelity , and the ladies retired with blushing countenances , and every mark of being , in vulgar parlance , sold . To avoid the like inconvenience occurring

again , it was determined thenceforward that the sons of senators should rao longer be admitted to the Senate with the exception of Papirus , who had so signally displayed his discretion , and for which he was rewarded with titles of honour , and dignified .

When Nicocreon , King of Corinth , desired toforce his secrets from Anaxarchus , he caused the philosopher to be pcmnded in a mortar . The sage ' s patience was so great that he cried out , " Beat on the bag of Anaxarchus , himself thou

canst not injure . " The tyrant , upon this threatened to cut his tongue out ; whereupon the philosopher bit it off and threw it in his face . The Egyptians worshipped Harpocratis as the God of Silence after the death of Osiris . Ho was

the son of Isis . They offered the first fruits of the lentils and pulse , and consecrated the tree Persea to him , because the leaves of it were shaped like a tongue , and the fruit like a heart . He was painted naked , and with the figure of a boy crowned

with an Egyptian mitre , which ended at the points as it were iu two buds . He held hi his left hand a horn of plenty , whilst a finger on his right hand was upon his lip . The Romaais had a goddess of silence , named Angerona , and the Athenians a statue of brass , which they bowed to . The figure was made without a tongue .

The servants of Plaucus are much commended , because no torment could make them confess the secret with which they had been entrusted by their master . The servant of Cato , the orator , also , was cruelly tortured , but nothing could make him

reveal the secrets of his master . . The Persians held it an inviolable law to punish most grievously , and much more than any other trespass , him that discovered any secret . Darius , being vanquished by Alexander , escaped so far as to hide himself where

he thought he might rest secure . No tortures nor bribes could make his brethren disclose his retreat . Lycurgirs likewise , in his laws , enacted that strict secrecy should be observed on all matters done or said ; whence the Athenians were wont , when they

met at a feast , to cause the eldest pi'esent show every one present the door , saying , " Take heed that not so much as one word pass out hence of whatsoever shall be here acted or spoken . " Pythagoras , likewise , commanded his scholars to keep

silence for five years . Aristotle being asked what thing appeared most difficult to him , replied , " to be secret and silent . " The Proverbs of Solomon teem with injunctions as to secrecy and silence . If secrecy and silence , then , be duly considered ,

they will be found most necessary to qualify a man for any business of importance . If this be granted , no one will dare dispute that Freemasons are superior to all other men in concealing their secrets from time immemorial . The power of gold , which