Extracts From The Minute Books Of The St. Paul's Lodge. Birmingham.

David" or "the Shield of David . " The four Hebrew words on . the outside are the names of the four rivers said to rise in the garden of Eden . That on the left , at the top , is Gihon , the Greek for Nile , signifying " arises from the East , " see Josephus Antiquities , lib . I ., Chap . I ., sec . 3 . That on the right is Pison , Greek for Ganges , signifies " a multitude . " That on the left , at the foot , is Hklekkel , the Tigris , or " swift with narrowness : " aud

REVIEWS . An Essay on the Mysteries and tlie True Object of the Brotherhood of Freemasons . Translated from the Prench . By W . H . Eeece , P . S . A ., and P . Prov . S . G . W ., Warwickshire . London : Simpkin and Marshall . This essay was originallprinted at Amsterdamin the

y , year 1774 , and went through two editions . It was the work of an anonymous author , and now first sees the light in an English translation , by Bro . Eeece . It has a dedication , a translator ' s preface , and the original advertisement prefixed to the body of the book . It is written in the form of a letter to M . de la ¦ H" , and was well known amongst Masons on the Continent . We shall not quote from its pages , because it would be unfair to its

translator to do so , as the book is but small , and all who are interested in the subject can procure it for themselves , but we will give a resume of its chief topics . The author avows himself a Freemason , and he undertakes to give a true account of the Order . He expouuds the aim of the society , and shows how its moral precepts are beneficial S ymbolism , as applied to the Craft , is touched on and connected with the Masonic mysteries . He combats the opinions of those who think Freemasonry mimical to tho State , and shows what

the other , on the right is the Prath , or the Euphrates , meaning " dispersion , " all of which are referred to , in Josephus , as above . The figure has been traced from a very old copy and is as perfect as it can be . The words surrounding the circle and disposed in the intersections of the triangles will , it is hoped , be translated and their significations given by some of the learned . Hebraists amongst your correspondents . —Ex . Ex .

are the true reasons which bind the brotherhood together . For the elucidation of our principles , he compares them to those of the Hebrew , Greek , and other philosophical secret associations , and shows by identity of teaching- how much Masonry is like them , entering upon some slight account of the classical mysteries . As an appendix he presents us with what ho terms two Masonic hymns .

Our Bro . Bcece has very ably caught the spirit of the original without being too literal in his translation , and has produced a little book which all Masons should read . It is very neatly printed and reflects great credit on all concerned in its production in anEnglish dress . The Church of England Temperance Magazine , No . 1 . Weeks , London .

Some obscure men who belong to the most puritanical portion of the clergy of the Church or England , have formed themselves into a society of total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors , and started a periodical called The Church of England Temperance Magazine . The first number , and we hope tlie last that we may ever see , is before us . It is a most wretched performance and cannot last long ; its promoters , having abandoned all true temperance , have rushed into intemperate print . Temperance is a great cardinal virtue , but these people recognise no portion