Freemasonry And Its Institutes.—Ii.

Europe , England not excepted , at the present clay many of the laws of the land are based on the old system of Roman j urisprudence . It is by no means uncommon to hear it said , as long as a man keeps ivithin the law ofthe laud , he is safe , no matter how unjust or unfeeling his conduct may be , thus making a complete separation and distinction betiveen the civil law and that laid clown by manand tlie moral law and that laid

, down by God , apparently forgetting or being ignorant that both proceed from the same source ; but did mankind truly act up to the two ^ great laws and commands of love of God and of their neighbour , human laws would be almost if not entirely useless . The law is meant to remind us that we are all brothers , that Ave owe a duty to each other , that Ave are all

equal in the sight of God , who is no respecter of persons , and that he Avho is of tlie most exalted rank , as Avell as the IOAVCSU person in society , are both amenable to the laiv ; it is meant to remind us that God ' s greatest attribute is justice tempered Avith mercy , that when we injure each other , we sin against him ; that this rule and law isthat every man must receive

, the due award of his deeds , it is God that gives authority to law . In the words of St . Paul ( Romans xiii . 1 , & c ) , " There is no power but of God . The powers that be are ordained of God . Rulers , " lie says , " are not a terror to good Avorks , but to evil . Wilt thou then not be afraid of those who

administer the laAV ? Do that Avhich is good , and thou shalt have praise from them , for they are God ' s ministers to thee for good . " Hence we perceive the close connection betAveen jurisprudence and religion , and the light which they throw upon each other ; the IUAVS of a people , and thus of sects or societies , since universals contain particulars , are best interpreted by its reli gion and historyand the uncertain portion

, of these is best elucidated b y its IUAVS . Before the art of writing ivas generally knoAvn , poetry and song were the first A'ehicles of history , as among the northmen and the Druids of our own land , and the earliest mode of promulgating laws , as in the cases before cited . Other methods for recording historical facts and laws ivere b y the use of symbols , stones

rude and unsculptured , burrows or mounds of earth , and tumuli form historical and reli gious monuments among a rude people ; while columns , statues , triumphal arches , medals and coins , served the same purpose among those more refined , and likewise marked the progress of art and science . R . B . W . { To be continued . )

Sketches From A Traveller's Journal.

SKETCHES FROM A TRAVELLER ' S JOURNAL .

A JOTJKXEY THROUGH THE SOUTH AFRICAN AVILDERNESS . SHORTLY after my arrival at the Cape , I found that an expedition of discovery was preparing for the exploration of Central Africa . This I was very anxious to accompany , and accordingly I asked permission to join it in any capacity they pleased to take me . But their numbers being complete , they

Avere unable to comply , and I was compelled , with what resignation I could summon , to see the expedition depart Avithout me . Three weeks after they had left the colony , there came back an express , announcing the death of the assistant naturalist , Avhen the situation Avas offered to me , accompanied b

y the admission that as the expedition had made considerable progress , it would require both activity and energy to overtake it , but that by those means it might be accomplished . Activity and energy I was by no means deficient in , and I accepted the offer with deli ght . That night saw me on board a coaster bound to Algoa Bay , and on my arrival there

I lost no time in completing my slender travelling preparations , so that the following day found mo , accompanied b y a Hottentot guide and two pack horses , starting on Avhat , from the distance the expedition must by that time have attained , Avas likel y to prove a six or seven hundred miles journey . _ On we sped , in three days crossing the frontier and its i-iver boundary , and issuing out into the broad African

Avilderness . Once oi'er the border , our only clue to the expedition Avas its general direction ; but we doubted not that as AVO dreAV nearer , Ave should obtain more definite intelligence at Kafir kraals , or find traces on the Avay , that would guide us to ifc . It Avas a Avild Bedouin life AVC led in that vast solitude .

Rising Avith the lark to commence our day ' s journey over broad rolling plains , down deep rocky defiles , and through dark Avooded valleys , all silent and lonely as if human foot had never trodden them before ; yet beautiful in their greenness , their vastness , and their picturesque outlines and groupings ; Avhile at every step graceful shrubs , and brilliant

blossoms met my eye , or gorgeous birds fluttered by me , such as I had never before seen . Now and then Ave crossed some tiny river gleaming with silvery lotus flowers , aud paused beside it , that our horses might drink and rest , and then , after a brief space , pushed on again . When night came , Ave off saddled beside some pond Avhose Avater Avas oftentimes green and stagnant , yet never despised on those accounts by the African traA'eller , with whom Avater

is frequently a rare commodity . Then my guide Hennck ' s talents came prominently into p lay . He collected sticks and lit a fire with a celerity that amazed one ; he prepared the game Ave had shot during the day , and cooked it skilfully on the embers , Avhile he made the coffee in our solitary tin kettle ; all the time chattering merrily in his broken English , telling

astounding incidents of buffalo hunts , and ostrich chases , and terrific tales of encounters with Avild animals , relieving the Avhole by singing fragments of Dutch hymns , Avhose siveet long draivri cadences echoed Avidely over the silent plain . Supper over , ive stretched ourselves beside the fire beneath

the glorious southern stars , and with a saddle for a pilloAV , consigned ourselves to sleep . Beside us Avere picketed our horses , to -whom , reversing the usual order of things , Ave formed a body guard from their various forest foes of leopard , lion , and hyena . Once or twice Ave stopped at Kafir kraals , Avhere for a few buttons they gave us maize and milk , but Ave could obtain from them no tidings of the expedition ; nor were wo more fortunate with the small bands of wandering Kafirs AVC

occasionally met . Still Ave pressed on cheerfully , confident that if Ave did not strike upon their track before , Ave should in tho neighbourhood of the Kehanie river , which could bo crossed but at two fords , and those in tolerable proximity to each other . As Ave advanced northward the heat increasedand

some-, times the hot wind from the great desert , but a short way from us , ivould siveep over us for hours together , scorching us Avith its burning breath , and ivell nigh stifling us Avith the clouds of heated sand it sent Avhirling in eddies through the air . Our horses suffered more than Ave did beneath

those furnace-like blasts , and more than once Henrick and I had to dismount , and dividing the burthens among all the horses , Avalked on by their side . One day Avas more sultry than any that had preceded it . The ivind blew higher and hotter , the grass was ivithered up , and the leaves rustled dryly and mournfully on their steins , scarce affording shelter to the panting animals which crept

beneath them . All clay Ave toiled on foot through the burning sand , Avhich reflected tlie sun ' s rays so dazzlingly as to almost blind us , despite the drooping branches twined round our hats as a protection ; and when ni ght came , O , hoiv glad I Avas , I wanted nothing save to throiv myself upon the grass , and listen to the fluttering of the leaves

above my head . Weariness overcame everything , and we fell asleep , soon to bo awakened by a loud pattering among the leaves , and a surging , rushing sound in the air—the intense heat had dissolved in rain . Not all the fountains of the Crystal Palace ever gave half fhe pleasure of those simple rain drops , as they uwe . pt down , refreshing and purifying tho air . I held