Music And The Masonic Ritual—No. Ii.

xxx ., entitled " a Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David , " at v . 11 , David says , " Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing . " In Psalm exlix , the children of Israel are exhorted to praise the Lord , and at v . 3 it is said , "Let . them praise His name in the dance : let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp . " In the book of Ecclesiastes , chap , iii ., v . 4 Ave are told there is " a

, time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance . " In Isaiah xiii . j v . 21 , the prophet speaking of the destruction of Babylon , says , " And owls shall dwell there , and satyrs shall dance there . " In the book of Jeremiah , chap , xxxi ., where the prophet is speaking of the restoration of Israel , and at v . 13 , we read , "Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance , both young men and old

together . " In Lamentations , chap , v ., v . 15 , it is said , " The joy of our heart is ceased ; our dance is turned into mourning . " In St . Matthew , chap , xi ., v . 16 and 17 , it is written , "But whereunto shall I liken this generation ? Ib is like unto children sitting in the markets , and calling unto their felloAvs , and saying , Ave have piped unto you , and ye have not danced ; we have mourned . Avith you , and ye have not lamented . " This latter quotation is repeated , almost word for word , in Luke vi ., v . 32 . In St . Matthew , chap , xiv ., v . 6 , we read of Herod ' s

birthday being kept , and " the daughter of Herodias danced before them , and pleased Herod . " This is also repeated at Mark vi ., v . 22 . In the parable of the prodigal son , recorded in Luke xv ., v . 25 , it is there stated , that as the elder son was in the field , and as he dreAv nig h unto the house , " he beard music and dancing . " We have been thus minute in our extracts from the book of the

sacred law because we have a theory to support , and holy scripture is ahvays respected by our brotherhood . From what has been advanced , in the present paper , onr . readers will gather that we have a strong opinion on the song dance of antiquity being the music of general worship among systems that were dissimilar . It is the Phyrric songdance of the Greeks ; the solar song dance of Hindostan ; the Baal

( Bull ) or phallic dance of those people who derived their worship from the rites of Osiris , Apis , Serajjis , and the other mythological deities ; and , lastly , the psalm dance of the Hebrews—that have enabled us to decide , with some degree of certainty , that the music of the ancients was , in its character , both vocal and instrumental , and so strongly marked with rhythm as to induce an involuntary motion of the feet terminating in the dance . From the length to which the present paper has extended , we must reserve our account of the music of the great religions of the world until our next .

A MASTEU ' S DUTY . — -It is his business to maintain peace , and appease dissensions among his neighbours , interposing his counsel anel authority in order thereto ; Avherein he hath that brave Mason , Moses , recommended for his pattern . —Barrow . 2 Y