Masonic Celestial Mysteries.

Thus our ancient brethren have been aud still are rights to the world" They slumber unmarked—But the wonder and pride of their works remain . " Now it is very remarkable in taking a universal view

of the works in Masonry that there is a great deal of uniformity in the building discovered in lands very distant from each other . The Pyramids are not confined to Africa ; they are found in Asia Minor and Persia , and even near the town of Mexico , where they have been erected ages before Europeans visited the New World .

Again the Eound Towers of the British Isles are common also in India and other distant countries , whilst tbe ponderous rocking stones that can be moved with a touch of the finger , but cannot be raised by our most powerful machinery are found in Persia as well as in Ireland . This satisfactorily proves that Masons were a universal

brotherhood iu every age of the world . Whatever nation may have taken the precedence in knowledge of the Arts and Sciences in days before tbe Mood , it is certain that to the Jews , Greeks , and Romans , Egypt was acknowledged to be the source from -whence they derived their information . Learning with

the Egyptians was not generally diffused—it was confined to one body of men—the Magi . These were not only skilled in geometry , land surveying , and arithmetic , the essentials of architecture , but in natural history , astronomy , and chemistry . Nor have they left us without proof of this . The hieroglyphics can only be read by the eye of science , and in them have they recorded their

intimate acquaintance with the sciences . . Figures and symbols' that make the uninitiated smile are proofs , to -the skilled , of the intimate acquaintance of these Magi with the most recondite laws of nature . What clearer proof could they have given of their profound knowledge of chemistry than , the preservation of the bodies

of great men from before the days of Abraham to the present day . But although tho Pyramids , the obelisks , the temples , tbe canals , and other works of art , both under and over the ground , may well strike the intelligent traveller with amazement , it was their knowledge of ethics and moral philosophy for which the Magi were

especially distinguished , and this knowledge is veiled in hieroglyphics . The Tyrians , an Egyptian colony , showed themselves not unworthy of the parent state . The city of Tyre long existed as a wonder to nations ; her extensive commerce , her trade with inland countries , her riches , her beauty

her power , is a theme on which the prophet Ezekiel dilated with great power . It was as Architects however , that the Tyrians chiefly -excelled . As Solomon observed in bis letter to Hiram King of Tyre , " there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber as the Sidonians .

The Tyrian builders whom Hiram , sent to King Solomon , were called Grublim , Ishchotzeb and Benai . These men had already been employed in building the Temple of Hercules at Tyre and various splendid edifices throughout Asia Minor . They first taught tbe Jews the noble art of building , who nad no knowledge of Architecture before the reign of King Solomon . It is no

slight proof of his wisdom to have established so firmly the schools of architects in the kingdom that the noble art continued from his time to be practised by the Jews and to constantly receive royal patronage . The manner in which the Temple was builded may well strike us with

wonder . In the first place , what engineering skill and powerful machines must have been employed in transferring the blocks of white polished stone , each block several tons in weight , from Phoenicia to Jerusalem . Then the machinery that was employed in raising these stones into their places when the walls were 45 feet high ,

and the porch upwards of 180 feet . What is still more marvellous , the materials for this magnificent temple were sent ready prepared to be fitted together , just as the materials for baby-houses are sent to us from Germany . All the parts fitted into one another , like the wheels in the machinery of a clock , and the noble

structure rose to crown the hill of Moriah without the sound of axe or hammer being beard in its erection . Solomon was a great master builder . Not only did be erect palaces in Jerusalem , but he also founded various cities , for the sake . of promoting commerce . Amongst others he erected Bnalutti and Palmyra in the

Wilderness , in order to establish a communication with the Persian Gulf aud India . Erom his time the noble art was cherished in Palestine until the Jews ceased to be a nation . The temple erected by Herod in the later days of the nation was a conclusion of the life of architecture in that land worthy o £ the splendour with which it had begun .

Erom the Tynans the knowledge of the science of architecture spread amongst the Greeks of Asia Minor-The Temple of Diana at Ephesus and the Tomb of Mausoleus at Halicarnassus still continue , after a lapse of 2 , 500 years , examples of what tbe human mind is capable of contriving aud performing when properly trained

by education and dutys . In Greece itself architecture and science , literature and oratory , blazed forth in pristine splendour in the time of Pericles . He , like Solomon , collected round him the most learned men and talanted artists of the time . The

associates of Pericles were Protagorus , Anazagorus , and Zeno , who were all very distinguished philosophers . Phideas , whose immortal works are now the pride of every museum , shared his confidence . Socrates , also the renowned moral philosopher , was one of the sculptors in his time who contributed the

group of figures to the works of art that adorned the Acropolis . Erom Greece learning and the arts spread to the Grecian colonies in Italy . Here it was that Py thagorus flourished , so renowned for his extensive knowledge and varied attainments . Prom his time history has made the world

at large acquainted with some of the teachings inculcated amongst ouv ancient order by their Worshipful Master . They carefully studied geometry , to which Pythagorus added some celebrated propositions , such as the 47 th in the first book , and the 31 st in the third . They also devoted much study to tbe laws of number , both as arithmeticians and musicians . They were also celebrated