Masonic Jottings From Abroad.

in New York , of a Masonic " Manual , " in Spanish , by Bro . Andrew Cassard . In the second edition of Proudban ' s work : " Of Justice in the Church ancl the Revolution ( De la justice dans Veglise , Sfc . ) An appendix has been added " on Freemasonry" ( La franc-magonnerie ) . In Paris , will shortly appear , if not by this time

published— " Calanclrier maponnigue , fyc . '" ( a Masonic Calendar of the Grancl Lodge of France , Supreme Council for France , and the French possessions , for the year of the Y . L ., 5860 . ) One , E . E . Eckert , who is crazy in his zeal against masonry , has published , in German , the first numbers of a periodical "for the protection of Christian

and Monarchical States , against the return of ancient heathenism , & c . & c . One phase of ancient heathenism , he says , is Freemasonry , and in one ofthe articles ofthe periodical mentioned , Masons are plastered over with the vituperative mortar of a splenetic trowel . M . Eckert and his periodical are simply laughed at .

Stray Thoughts On The Origin And Progress Of The Fine Arts.

STRAY THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE FINE ARTS .

Bx DIAGOEAS . No . VII . Having in my former papers giA'en a rapid sketch of the origin and progress of sculpture , I shall now . in like manneroffer some remarks on sculture as applied

, p to architecture ; and here I would remark that the origin of the various orders of architecture is a prolific source of debate . On the origin of the pointed arch more than fifty volumes have been written by as many authors , who have left the subject as they found it—in obscurity . On these and similar moot points I will not

touch , but merely glance at some of the more prominent or important features which have successively appeared in architecture . Tbe origin of architecture takes us back to the period before the fiood : ive are told in the Sacred Volume that Cain built a city , and named it after his son Enochbut Ave are not informed of the

, mode of construction nor the materials employed . We learn from the same Divine source , that Jabel was the father of such as dwelt in tents : this form , in all probability , includes most of the primitive abodes of man , and may have been formed of stakes , covered by leaves ,

Dark oi trees , or skins oi animals ; in Noah ' s time , however , Ave find a considerable advance made in the art of building , because much skill must have been exerted in the construction of the ark . We learn in the 10 th chapter of Genesis , that Ashur built the cities of Nineveh , Reheboth , Calah , ancl Resen , and the art of brickmaking must have been extensivelknoivn and

y practised ji-hen the city and tower of ' Babel were built , — " Let us make bricks , ancl burn them thoroughly . Ancl they had brick for stone , and slime had they for mortar' — Genesis xi ., v . 3 . There is no information concerning the dimensions or shape of this tower ; Ave are merely toldthat it Avas the vain intention of

, its builders to cause its top to reach the clouds , in order that they might make to themselves " a great name , and be no more scattered abroad on the face of the earth . ; :: or , as some have ingeniously supposed , that they might be in possession of a safe retreat from another deluge . Their desi Avhatever it ivasivas frustrated

gn , , by the intervention of the Almighty , and the building remained unfinished . Strabo and Herodotus give a description of Babylon aud its tower , but it is quite uncertain whether they allude to the Babylon here referred to . Herodotus describes it as a square

building , measuring a furlong on each side . An inclined plane went eight times round the building , giving it the appearance of being eight stories high , each story being seventy-five feet : the entire height must have been 600 feet . The inclined plane was so broad that carriages might pass each other . Of the once mighty Babylon the

very site is now a matter of dispute ; its supposed ruins present nothing but shapeless masses of brick , which eonA-ey no idea of any style of architecture , or of the progress which art had made there . It is most probable that architecture had its origin iu the devotional feelings of man ; in India , Egypt , Greece . Italy , France , Mexico ,

Peru , and Britain , ruins of buildings have from time to time been discovered , ei'identiy connected with Divine worship , the dates of which are far beyond our sources of information . These ruins evince various degrees of refinement , and of knowledge oi the arts of life ; but buildings evidently intended for the personal

accommodation of man in the early ages are seldom if eA'er met with , on account of the perishable materials of which they were constructed . Egypt is generally referred to , as the country where the arts were first brought to any degree of perfection : but many hold the opinion that Ethiopia gave to the land of the Pharaohs its rudiments of architecture . It is also supposed that Egypt , Nubia , and India obtained their notions of religious architecture from the same source . In all these countries are found

excavationsin the solidroek of immense extent , and furnished with colossal figures ; vast masses of building raised from the earth , Avith a profusion of statuary and carving ; and all these on such a scale of extent and magnificence , that we feel disposed to think of the Giants , who . are said to have inhabited the earth before the flood , rather than of men of the ordinary statureas the authors of all these

, works . But although the works of Egypt are so stupendous , it is vain to refer to it the origin of all architecture , for it probably happens that every nation which claims a style peculiarly its own , owes that style to many natural causes , such as soil , climate , and the religious feelings and tenets of the people . Thus , the

Egyptians believed that , after the lapse of 3000 years , the spirit would return and reanimate the body it previously occupied , provided such body ivere preserved entire and uneorrupt ; hence arose the practice of embalming the dead ; hence arose those wonderful labyrinths and pyramids , built for the preservation of the bodily organs till the spirit should revisit them .

Although the architecture of the Egyptian presents many features in common with the Hindoo excavations , it does not necessarily foiloiv that they were connected . It is true that both people ( like the author of Miranda *) , believed in the transmigration of souls . Both constructed large excavations and enormous monuments ; the- lotus

and palm were the favourite ornaments of both ; their sculptured figures were equally stiff and motionless , but this is no proof that one derived its ideas of architecture from the other . Egypt and India are both possessed of a hot climate , of a river 'periodically overfloAving its banks , and both produce plants and animals of the same

peculiar species ; on the rivers of both countries the Nymphfea , or ivater-lily , and along their banks , the palm , occur in the same abundance ; the countries being so similar in natural resources , of a necessity produced similarity in the modes of life and methods of industry of the inhabitants , in their topics , religion , and amusements . Although there may be a similarity in the nature of the works of the Hindoos and Egyptians , yet ,