The Jewels—A Tradition Of The Rabbins.

to restore them without acquainting thee therewith . " She thenled him to the chamber . jand stepping to the bed , took the white covering from the dead bodies . — "Ah , my sons , my sons ! " thus loudly lamented the father ; " my sons , the light of mine eyes and the light of my understanding ; I was your father , but ye were my teachers in the law . " The

mother turned away and wept bitterly . At length , she took her husband by the hand , and said , "Rabbi , didst thou not teach me , that wc must not bo reluctant to restore that which was entrusted to our keeping ? Sec , the Lord gave , the . Lord has taken away , and blessed be the name of the Lord ! " "Blessed be tho name of the Lord , " echoed Rabbi Meir , " and blessed be his name for thy sake

too ; for well it is written , 'AVhoso hath found a virtuous wife , hath greater treasure than costly pearls ; she openeth her mouth with wisdom , and in her tongue is the law of kindness . '"

Fine Arts.

Fine Arts .

" MRS . FRY READING TO THE PRISONERS IN NEWGATE IN 1816 . "

A grand historical picture by Jerry Barrett , Esq ., painter of well-known pictures of " Miss Nightingale at Scutari , " and "The Queen visiting the wounded Crimean Soldiers at the Brompton Hospital , Chatham , " is now being exhibited at the Gallery , 191 , Piccadilly . Freemasons always boast they are of no sect or creed , so it is not as a sectarian

subject we notice this work of art , but our Craft is ever ready to assist in every good work that engages the sympathy of mankind . Such were Mrs . Fry's labours , and the reward of them is to be seen in our improved criminal discipline . This subject has been ably handled by Mr . Barrett . His picture is full of verve , capitally conceived and broadly executed . There is

a freedom of handling , a breadth of colour and a spirituality of design which does the artist great credit , and with a little more finish in certain minor portions , ivould make it one of the great pictures of the present day . Some of the figures are of the deepest interest ; the drawing being admirable for the close resemblance to nature in the various

dispositions of the human form . AVoe , guilt , and shame are most powerfully treated , and happily contrasted with the benignity of Mrs . Fry , whoso heaven-born mission radiates her countenance . Tho work of Mr . Barrett is one which should

bo seen to be properly appreciated , for if figures on canvass ever spoke conviction to the beholder , then " Mrs . Fry reading to the prisoners in Newgate , in 1816 , " tells tho talc at a glance . AVe do not intend to pay our readers such a bad compliment as to tell them who Mrs . Fry was , but we will merely refer to ono of the great wits of the present

century , to show what was thought of her labours . In one of the Rev . Sydney Smith ' s letters to Lady Asbburton , he says : — " I am glad to find you liked what I said of Mrs . Pry . She is very unpopular with the clergy : examples of living , active virtue disturb our repose , and give birth to distressing comparisons : wo long to burn her alive .- ' Never were truer wordsironical though they

, were , spoken , and in the painting by Mr . Barrett the evidence of her "living , active virtue" is prominently brought before us . AVe know this to bo high praise , but look upon the picture in what light wc will , cither as an incentive to golden deeds of love towards our fellow-sinners , or as a work of high art and an exposition ofthe beautiful , because true , wo feel assured that , as soon as the picture and its subject is fairlbefore the

y public , it will create an amount of interest that seldom falls to the lot of . in artist who has not grown grey from years of toil and study .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

IHE ESSENES AND KNIGHTS TEMPLAR . There is a most remarkable resemblance between the maxims and customs of the Essenes and the early Templars , as they have been handed down to us , and the resemblance both bear to Freemasonry is well known . This induces me to put the question , whether it is probable the Essenes existed down to the 10 th or 11 th centuries , and who

and of what country was Hugh of the Pagans , the first Master of the Temple ? The name would lead one to suppose he was a convert to Christianity . It is , I believe , a disputed point whether the Essenes professed patriarchal Jewish , or Christian principles , and also as to their origin . Later corruptions of this society may have originated the jlssassins , the Mysteries of the Druses , & c . The resemblance

to Freemasonry I can only account for by supposing that the Masons of the middle ages were Essenian architects , or that the Essenians were , or had been , connected in some way with the Dionisiacs . — -A .

EXCOMMUNICATION OP TIIE SCOTTISH TEMPLARS . Gregoire has tho'following : — " Upon these facts the Templars establish that the existence of the Order was never interrupted , assuring us that the Scottish Templars , excommunicated in 132-1 , by the Grand Master Larmenius , were but a counterfeit of the Order of tho Temple , which became afterwards the trunk of the Masonic societies . Query—from

whence does Gregoire derive the foregoing ? The article in which I find the quotation in the MAGAZINE ( par excellence ) states that , in 1840 , under the Duke of Sussex , the Earl of Durham and tho Duke of Leinster as Grand Priors , England Scotland , and Ireland were provinces of the French Order of the Temple , under Sir Sidney Smith as G . M . AVas there ever a body of so-called Chivalric Templars in England , or does this refer to the Masonic Templars ? I presume the latter ; and if so , the whole Order of the Templar was twenty years ago united . —A .

THE LECTURE OF BRO . WOODPORD . — " THERE SHALL BE LIGHT . " The eloquent lecture , " On tho early traces of Freemasonry , " which the Rev . Bro . A . F . A . Woodford delivered before the Britannia Lodge ( No . 162 ) , is the first step of the English brotherhood from darkness to tho light of true historical science . This unprejudiced brother is on the right way to clear up the horrible nonof

sense so many brethren who are still know-nothings relating the true history of the Craft . Bro . AVoodford would do a great service to the whole Fraternity , and especially to the Masonic science , if he would allow the Editor , Bro . AVarreiijto have his lecture printed , and not only the lecture , but also tho recent publication of the Surtees Society therein mentionedand the declaration which was made at York

, Minster by every Mason admitted to work . I should like very much to send ioBz-o . AVoodford , as a mark of my esteem , and as an acknowledgment of his valuable research , with which I agree , a copy of my newly published History of ' Freemasonry , 2 vols , and I will do so , if Bro . Woodford understands the German language . —F . G . FINDEL , Editor of The BauhiitteLeipzi . —[ The Surtees Society publication

, g is the property of its members , who are regular subscribers of an annual sum , ivhich they spend in printing books for their own exclusive use , and it is not likely they would allow a reprint of their private property . ] .

ANOTHER MASONIC MURDER . A brother has given mc the following title of a book , — Masonry ihe same all over the World ) Another Masonie Murder , which he says contains the affidavit of S . G . Anderton concerning the murder of AV . Miller , and was jirinted at Boston , U . S ., iu 1830 . AVhere can I see a copy of this work ? —C . E . T .

CENTENARY JEWELS . AVould you be kind enough to inform me if centenary medals arc presented to daughter loclges by the Grand Lodge , as a mark of esteem , or must the lod ge buy them?—WALTER Joss , J . D . 15 , Montrose , Kilwinning . —[ Under the English constitution , a lodge , on attaining its centenary , petitions the M . AV . G . M . for leave to wear a medal , according to a design submitted at the same time , in commemoration