Freemasonry In The United States.

it is Avith SOITOAV I say that this is a truth made evident to the most superficial observer . Is this , my brethren , the aim and object of Masonry ? If so , I have learned its lessons in vain . " ( To be continued . )

The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

THE NEMESIS : A TALE OF THE DAYS OF TRAJAN .

By BRO . A . OXEAL HAYE , Author of " Tlie History of the Knights Templars ; " Poet Laureate of the Canongate , Kilvrinning ; P . M . St . Stephens ; P . P , Z . of St . Andrews R . A . Chap . ; § x . ; Zee . . ( Continued from page 287 . ) CHAPTER V .

THE EARLY CHRISTIANS' CHAPEL . " Mid the silence of tbe tomb , Mid the grave ' s sepulchral gloom , Mid the darkness of the night , Hid from ribald heathen ' s sight , Eose the hymn of praise to Heaven 1 Sinners saved , and sin forgiven . ' "—A O . H . Let us leave the princely halls of Rome , the

streets through which the proud triumph has swept its splendid mournful course along , and descend to that other city , the city of the tombs , the catacombs , wherein the lawless murderer had his den , the ] 3 hilosopher his secret hall of mystery ,

and the early Christian his temple and his shrine . No longer might free uncurbed minds soar through the mysteries of philosophy and challenge the slavish Avorship aud tenets of the priests , no longer might the humble follower of Jesus exercise the

rig htful devotions of his creed in the face of day ; the spirit of the false gods , fearful for its power had arisen , and driven both philosopher and Christian to the secret places and the caves of the earth .

The persecution of the Christians Avhich had raged during the reign of Nero , continued Avith less or more fury during those of his successors , and swelled into greater proportions during that of Trajan . Nothing less than the utter destruction

of the sect Avas his aim and'object .. The emperor Avas mild and accomplished , tender of heart and cool in judgment , on all points save one . He had been taught to abhor the Christian name , as indicative of all that Avas vile and IOAV in human

nature ; he believed that they united in their worship the prostitution of the votaries of Venus , with the vile excesses aud awful depravity of the worshippers of Bacchus ; he viewed them as dangerous fomenters of civil broil , persons AVIIO AVOUIC stop at nothing to degrade humanity , and

subvert moral principle . The priests found him an easy tool in their hands , and he lent ready credence to all their tales of the dreadful doings of the Christian community . In the earlier years after the ascension of our

blessed Lord into heaven , the Christians escaped persecution at the hands of the Romans , who looked upon them as a sect of the JeAVS , a circumstance confirmed by the hatred which that people bore them : but Avhen in course of time , their

numbersincreased , \ vhen patricianandplebeianalike enrolled themselves under the banners of the-Cross , Avhen they began to make incessant and deadly attacks upon the national worship , then the Romans , hounded on by their priests turned

round and sleAv them . The JeAvish religion was never one given to proselytising—it Avas essentially national and domestic ; a convert never rose to rank among the Jews , he Avas rather looked upon as a hewer of Avood and a draAver of water .

Only to the pure descendants of Jacob was the Mosaic laAV applicable . Converts Avere undoubtedly received , but they were despised .

Thus the Roman priests found iu the Christiansa dangerous power , aud one which if not in time curbed , would eud in their overthrow . Every day some noble left their altars , ceased to supply victims for the sacrifice , the funds of the temples

became smaller and smaller , Avhile the Christian flock grew larger and larger . Then commenced the string of bloody persecutions , thousands died ; in the amphitheatre , torn to pieces by wild animals , till the name ceased to be acknowledged ,,

and the faithful hid their heads in fear and trembling ' . They had hojDed to have found in Trajan a just though perhaps a stern adversary , but such hopes were speedily blighted . Forth A \ ent the orders to hunt them down , rewards Avere offered

for their discovery and capture , and many a miscreant joined their ranks for no other purpose than to betray . Old men , young and fair women Avere delivered up to the lions in the Colloseum , and the Romans Avere destined to reap many a goodly sig ht of murder and cruelty .

In a cell holloAvecl out in the side of one of thefar off passages of the catacombs , known only to the initiated , a company of Christians met , under the pastorage of one Paulus a tanner on the Pontine Marshes . Paulus , had once been among

the most distinguished of Corinth ' s citizens , rich and noble . He Avas descended from the virtuous patriot Aratus of Sicyon , Avho proving an insur-