The Pope And Freemasonry.

Celts , will have it that the Persians and the Celts were originally one ancl the same people ; and Major Vallancey is of the same opinion , adding that the Druids first flourished in the East , in Hindostan as Brahmins , in Babylon and Syria as

Chaldeans , and in Persia as Magi , ancl from thence came hither with that great body of Persian Scythians , Avhom the Greeks call Phoenicians . See " Hutchinson's History of Cumberland , " vol i . p . 247 .

I suppose , then , that some of Zoraster ' s pupils made their way to Ireland , and propagated his rereligion here , fire-towers and all . I do not know what may be the received opinion amongst antiquarians as to the origin of these mysterious round

towers , but for want of a better theory this may do . What I have already stated will give your readers some idea of what primitive Freemasonry was like of which these old mysteries were

spurious imitations . In another letter , with your kind permission , I will give some idea of modern Freemasonry . In the meantime , I have the honour to be , your ' s faithfully , JOHN MILNEE , B . A ., Chaplain , R . N . H . M . S . Hector , Queenstown , 6 th Jan . 1866 .

Tidings From The Sandwich Islands.

TIDINGS FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS .

Our readers will remember the papers on " Masonry in the Sandwich Islands , " contributed by Bro . D . Murray Lyon , Prov . J . G . W . of Ayrshire , which appeared in the Magazine some years ago . King Kamehameha IV ., and his Secretary

of State , Robert Crichton Wylie , occupied a prominent place in these papers ; but since their publication both monarch and statesman haA'e joined the silent lodge . The recent appearance amongst us in widoAv ' s Aveeds of her who Avas the

mother of the loveteau whose death-bed scene Avas so touchingly depicted in the concluding one of the articles already referred to , was remindful of our late royal brother ' s death , as the piles of Honolulu newspapers received the other day

make us acquainted with the demise of his Minister of Foreign Relations . Mr . Wylie studied at GlasgOAv College , ' and received his medical diploma before he was twenty years of age . He soon after left as surgeon in a vessel bound for the North Seas , ancl endured hardships

and braved dangers like a true Briton . He was thrice shipAvrecked , and returned to Liverpool , but not to home , having left with the firm resolution to do so after he had earned a fame worthy of his name . Through the instrumentality of his late

teacher , Dr . Barr , who was then in Liverpool , he re-embarked in a vessel bound for South America , AA'here he for a short time practised as a surgeon , but soon turned his attention to mercantile affairs , for Avhich in tact and talent he Avas in every respect

adapted . After a sojourn of fourteen years there he revisited his native land , and , as one of the first fruits of his success , built a mansion house for his parents on the lands of Hazelbank , parish of Dunlop , Ayrshire , N . B . He then , feeling

time hanging heavily on his hand , left for London , and was soon again engaged in mercantile transactions . But , acting on an idea which seemed to have actuated him , he Avent to the Sandwich Islands , where for the last twenty years he occupied an important field of usefulness with great ' benefits to the natives there and honour to himself .

It is gratifying to find that from the highest tothe loAvest in that land of his adoption , all are as one in testifying to his many virtues , and recording his death as a truly national calamity . The Privy Council and the Supreme Court of

Hawaii haA r e adopted resolutions expressive of the estimation iu which Mr . Wylie Avas held , and of the loss the nation had sustained in his death ; and at a special communication of the Lodge Le Progres de 1 'Oceanic , opened on the third

degree of Masomy , the Worshipful Master , H . A . P . Carter , Esq ., presiding , the followingresolutions , expressive of the respect felt by the members of said lodge for their late brother , were unanimously accepted : — -

Whereas , our Bro . Robert Crichton Wyliehas been removed by -death at the call of the Great Master from this present sphere of usefulness ; it is hereby resolved by this lodge—First . —That the Government of this Kingdom

has lost an industrious and faithful public servant , and one who has been for more than tAventy years devoted to its independence and its recognition among the great family of nations .

Second . —That the foreign community of these islands has lost an affable , humane , and charitable citizen , Avhose hand was guided by benevolence , and whose ear was ever open to the needs of the indigent ancl distressed . Third . —That the Order of Freemasonry has