Teutonic Legal Antiquities.

vonian peasant , with a hunter ' s wallet containing bread , cheese , and agricultural implements ( small ones , Ave hope ) , carrying a crook in his hand , and having a black steer , and a lean cart-horse on either side , approaches the marble seat , led by

two noblemen of the province , and followed by all the rest of the nobility and chivalry in the most splendid festal array , Avith the flags and banners of the duchy . As soon as the procession comes near enough for the peasant to discover

the prince , he asks in the Sclavonic dialect spoken in Carinthia , " Who comes hither in such state ?" The croAvd answer , " The Prince of the country . " The peasant resumes , " Is he a just judge ? Does the good of the country touch his heart ? Is he of

free and Christian birth ? " An unanimous shout of " He is ! he will be ! " resounds from the assembled multitude . '' Then I ask , by AA'hat right he will remove me from this seat ? " again questions the peasant ; aud the Count of Gorz

replies , " He will buy it of thee for sixty pence ; these draught cattle shall be thine , as Avell as the prince ' s clothes ; thy house shall be free , and thou

shalt pay neither tithe nor rent . The peasant UOAV gives the prince a slight box on the ear , admonishes him to be just , and descending from the marble seat , takes possession of the horse and steer . The new duke ascends the

vacated throne , ancl sAvinging his draAvn sAvord in every direction , promises right and justice to the people ; after Avhich , in proof of his moderation , he takes a draught of Avater out of his hat . The procession then goes to St . Peter ' s Church to hear

mass . The duke exchanges his rustic dress for princely attire , and holds a magnificent banquet Avith his knights and nobles . After dinner the company repair to the side of a hill , Avhere stands

a seat dmded into two by a partition Avail . The duke sits on the side fronting the east , and swears , bare-headed , and . vith uplifted fingers , to maintain the laAvs and rights of the duchy . Thereupon he receives the homage , the oaths of

allegiance of his vassals , and grants the investiture of fiefs . On the opposite side sits the Count of Gorz , and grants the fiefs depending mediately upon him , as hereditary Count Palatine of Carinthia . So long as the duke sits upon this seat granting fiefs , it is

the prescriptive privilege of the race of Gradneckers to appropriate to themselves as much grass as they can moAV , unless it bo ransomed by the OAvners ; Avhilst robbers enjoy the yet more rnaz--vellous privilege of robbing the Portendorfers ,

Teutonic Legal Antiquities.

and after them the Mordaxters , that of burning the property of Avhosoever will not compound Avith them , ( by the payment of black mail ) . These extraordinary ceremonies Avere observed at every accession of a Duke of Carinthia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries : in the fifteenth fchej disapriear .

Masonic Charity.

MASONIC CHARITY .

Masonry is an institution established for mutual improvement and mutual benefit , and to attain this end ib is necessary that there should exist mutual good feeling and undisguised interchange of sentiments . But this cannot be accomplished

unless there is charity with each other . The three greatprinciplesof Masonry are brotherly love , relief , and truth , Avhile the three cardinal virtues which form the principal steps of Jacob ' s ladder are faith , hope , and charity . But this charity does not simply

mean that charity Avhich Avould lead us to give relief to a fellow creature in tho hour of distress , but charitv in its broadest and most exalted sense .

lo trace this sublime principle to its source Ave must look beyond the bounds of time , Ave must penetrate the heaven of heavens , and Ave will there find it in the happy society of angels , —the bond of peace aud all virtues , and when the Avorld shall

have passed aivay—Avhen the Great Architect of the Universe shall descend from heaven Avith a shout and Avith the A oice of au archangel . Masonic charity will continue to illumine those blest abodes Avhere the just live to all eternity . All other

virtues are mortal , but charity is immortal . Masonic charity is that Avhich . is so eloquently described by St . Paul , the charity Avhich suflereth long and is kind , Avhich vaunteth not itself , is not

puffed up , doth not behaA ^ e itself unseemly , and Avhich never faileth . The charity of the heart is the Masonic characteristic . Freemasonry is built upon it , and had its foundation been on the sand it Avould have vanished centuries ago . A moral

responsibility rests upon every Freemason—it is for him to show the opponents of the Order that Masonry is real , that there is that bond of union , that brotherly love , that sublime charity , Avhich is not to be found in any other society of men .

Let him SIIOAV this , and opponents will be feAver and the candidates for admission more numerous . Let him never forget there is no position more dangerous than a house divided against itself . — Masonic Record of Western India .