Memoirs Of The Freemasons Of Naples.

G-BA ^ LODGK , AERIL 13 TH , 1796 . Tbe Grand Lodge being acquainted by the Grand Master , in the chair , that His Eoyal Highness Prince William of Gloucester had been initiated into Masonry in the Britannic Lodge ( No . 27 ) , it was thereupon resolved unanimously that , in testimony of the high sense the Grand Lodge entertains of the great honour conferred on the societb

y y the initiation of Prince William of Gloucester , His Eoyal Highness be presented with an apron lined with blue silk , and , in all future processions , do rank as a Past Grand Master . Ordered—That No . 124 , the St . David ' s Lodge , Brookstreet , be erased from the list of lodges , for having , contrary to the laws of the Grand Lod initiated twelve

ge , persons into the society at one meeting , and for unworthy considerations . Ordered also—That tho said persons , viz . ( here follows the names ) , are not to be considered as regular Masons , or to be received or admitted into any lodge , although the smallest blame or censure is not imputable to them , the lodge , and not

the individuals admitted , being culpable . Ordered—That No . 350 , Lodge of Sural Friendship , he discontinued on the list of lodges , being united to No . _ 330 , the Lodge of the Nine Muses , at the Thatched House Tavern , St . Jarnes ' s-street . Ordered—That the following lodges bo erased out of the list , having ceased to meet , or neglected to conform to the

laws of the society , viz : —No . 207 , Star Lodge , Chester ; No . 336 , Impregnable Lodge , Sandwich ; No . 393 , St . Margaret's Lodge , Dartmouth-street , AVestminster . But ive are not enabled to obtain further information from the " , Grand Lodge than that three out of the four lodges then existing under the Grand Lodge of England ceased to be connected with them a very few years after

this , aud that one only , No . 440 , La Loggia della Verita ( the same whose members behaved so nobly ia the Calabrese catastrophe ivhich we have previously recorded ) , alone remained on the books of the Grand Lodge , and it was only in the year 1812 that it ceased to exist , and for which a cause will be given hereafter . ( 2 b be continued . )

Masterpieces Of The Architect Ure Of Different Nations.

MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECT URE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS .

Bv J . G-. LECTEA > : D . THE AECKIXECTI'EE OP THE E 01 IAX 8 . { Continued from paye 165 . ) The artistCassasin forming his collection of models

, , , could not have been otherwise than embarrassed iu a selection of the monuments of Eoman Architecture . He therefore applied himself to a preference of those whose varied forms , bearing a resemblance to each other , or beiug quits different from those of other nations , might give the most accurate ideas of all the

resources of the art of the ancient Eomans in the decoration of their edifices . He preferred presenting those ivhich were either the most noble in their forius ^ or were the least known , and of which a happy application could be made to modern monuments , hy accommodating them to our customs ami to the influences of our

climate . The Obelisk of the Vatican is constructed of Oriental rose-coloured granite . Tiie belief is that it was executed in Egypt in the reign of Sesostius , and afterwards taken from Egypt to Eome b y Caligula , who , in the third year of his reign , and the fortieth of the Christian era , had it erected in the Circus , near the site where the Vatican was afterwards built . It is the only

monument of the kind that was not destroyed at Eome by the Goths . It was found only half-sunken in the ground . It is said to have had on its summit an urn , in which were deposited the ashes of Julius Cassar .

The height of the pedestal is about 28 feet . That of the shaft 72 „ The cross and bronze ornaments 18 „ Total 118 feet . All the sides are not of exactly the same proportions .

The two largest sides are about 9 feet ; the third side is only 8 feet 7 inches ; and the fourth side , 8 feet 3 inches . It was erected by the celebrated Eontana , in the Square of St . Peter , in 1586 , the second year of the pontificate of Sextus V . A sepulchral monument , executed in the very rock ,

in the Valley of Josaphat , commonly called the Retreat of the Apostles , is situated near Jerusalem . The centre of it evidently bears in its treatment the Greek character , ivhile the kinds of towers by which it is flanked have in the main a tendency to the Arabic styleand are ornamented with mouldings and

decora-, tions that were in use among the Greeks and the Eomans . The place ( ivhich is still visible ) of an inscription , just above the steps , has not been filled up , and leaves us in doubt as to the date of these constructions , ivhich , from the manner in ivhich they are executed in the very mass of the rock , have as much

claim to be classed amongst sculpture as amongst architecture . Many of these grottoes seem never to have been finished or consecrated ; and it is not out of the reach of probability to think that , even as statuaries and workers in marble kept cinerary vases and sarcophagi read } ' made in their shops , so artists , sculptors as well as architects , made in such parts of the rock burying-places more or less rich , and more or less

varied in their forms , which persons in easy circumstances afterwards purchased for the interment of their families . The comfort and convenience , and the number and character of these sepulchres , authorise , perhaps , this supposition , in ivhich there is nothing contrary to the customs of the inhabitants of these countries . If they bought a fielda grottoor a caveto make a

, , , burial-place of it , why should they not have also purchased , in the same way , a ready-made tomb , of a richness commensurate to their means ? The Tomb of Caius Caisar , near Ems , the ancient Emesus , is to be seen in Syria , at the distance of about a quarter of a mile from the ancient Emesusgoing in a

, westerly direction towards the river ancientl y known as Orontes . The name of Caius Caisar , which is still read on one of the sides of the monument , confirms the tradition which has been transmitted to us that this tomb was dedicated to the memory of Caius Caisar , the grandson of Augustus , born from the marriage of the

celebrated Julia with Vipsanius Agrippa . It seems as if the sculpture of it was never finished . The Mosaic ivhich forms the covering of the upper part , in the form of a pyramid , is something in common with the Oriental , style , and people have discovered in the general mass some resemblance to that of the Tomb of Mausolus ,

ivhich has been already described , though this has no peristyle and is not so considerable . People have also thought that they have discovered in this monument some conformity with the altars of the Sun , ivhich was worshipped at Emesus with much more pomp than anywhere else . The- ruins of a small circular temple are met with near a village on the road from Tripoli to Baalbeck , at the foot of Mount Libanus , on tho side of the last mentioned