Masonic Adventure.

that his ] 3 lans for escape had been guessed at by his astute companion , and his emotion was evident . " ' Tes , my friend , " continued Brandt , " we must part tomorrow , for I know too well your chivalrous spirit to hope you would ever join our cause , and I have now brought you as near to your oivn forces as prudence will permit ;

tomorrow , then , at daybreak , a guide with a flag of truce will conduct you within the American lines . " It is easier to imagine than to describe the feelings of joy which these words filled Charles , and for a while he was unable to speak ; when , however , he could express himself , he poured out his thanks , which were mixed with regrets

at parting from his kind friend . "And now , " said Brandt , " promise me one thing in return for the kindness you say I have shown 3-011 . I have only done my duty to you as a brother Mason ; but promise me that , should it eA-er be in your power to offer the same assistance to a brother in distress who belongs

to our side , you will at once do so . " With this Charles gladly complied ; IIOAV , it will hereafter appear . Ere nightfall on the following day , Charles once more pressed tlie hands of his brother officers , and thus , by reciting his adventure , gave a practical refutation to the jokes and sneers against tlie Craft , which some feiv narrow-minded men had previousl y uttered . —R . B . W . ( To be continued . )

Stray Thoughts About Books.

STRAY THOUGHTS ABOUT BOOKS .

Br DIAGORAS . In jotting down a few stray thoughts concerning books , it may not be altogether uninteresting if I first look back upon other times , less favoured than the present , less amply provided with mental pahitlum , and observe some of the vicissitudes to which the progress

of literature has been subjected , —and first respecting the materials of which books were made , or , correctly speaking , the materials which have been employed for writing upon . Those of the hardest texture and most durable nature were originally selected ; the Decalogue was written on stone ; so were the laws of Mosesand

, they were afterwards graven on tables of brass and wood . The laws of Solon were engraved on wooden tablets , and the twelve tablets of the Romans on oak or brass . Lead was also occasionally employed . Job alludes to writing on lead with an iron pen . The inscriptions upon the bricks of the Chaldeans and Babylonians are well known .

The walls of public edifices were sometimes made use of for the purpose of transmitting laws , records , or historical circumstances whose publicity and durability mi ght be desirable . The Arnndelian marbles contain numerous inscriptions recording-public matters , and Josephus speaks of two columns of brick and stone upon whicli the children of Seth recorded then * astronomical discoveries .

Wood , however , was the material most frequently employed both for public and private occasions . ' The Swedish term Balkan Laivs is derived from hallo , or beam , and our own word book from the Saxon boe , beech , that being the wood usually employed . Wooden tablets were in use prior to the time of Homer , and even as late as

the fourth century we find the laws of the emperors inscribed on them ; and every one knows that the business of the Exchequer ivas wooden tallies until very recently . Who has not heard of the method adopted by the hedge schoolmaster iu Ireland , who taught writing by means of aboard strewn with fine sand , tracing the letters thereon with a sharp pointed stick . Tablets , slightly coated with

wax , were in constant use with the Romans , and they were used also in the time of Chaucer , for he alludes to them in the Siimpner ' s Tale . The inner bark of the ash , elm , maple , and other trees , beaten , dried , and otherwise proper !)* prepared , was early employed as a material for writing upon , and hence the word liber has become

transmitted into so many languages as the signification of a book . Bark manuscripts are now rare , but some Eastern nations still employ this substance , and the Chinese make one species of paper from bamboo . Leaves have also been used for writing upon from remote antiquity ; hence the term , the leaf of a book . The ancient Sybils inscribed their prophecies on leaves , and the judges of Syracuse wrote the names of those condemned to exile on an olive

leaf . Pliny thinks tlie palm to have been earliest employed . In India , tlie palmyra , and in Ceylon the talipot , are still used for writing upon . Linen cloth was used by the Egyptians for drawing or painting upon prior to the invention of papyrus , specimens of which may be seen in the British Museum . The Romans also used linen . The custom of writing upon parchmentor

, the prepared skins of beasts , was far more ancient than the use of papyrus . Skins prepared like leather were used by the Jews . The ancient Persians wrote all their records on skins . The Mexicans and North American

Indians had maps painted on skins . Parchment , it is said , was discovered bj Eumenes , King of Pergamos , whence the name is derived . Parchment , when carefully prepared , is so durable that manuscri pts of more than 1000 years old manifest no signs of decay . The Jews still write the rolls of the law , which are kept in the synagogueirpon this substance . The most ancient

, description of paper was prepared from the fibres of the cjiperits papyrus . It was manufactured at Memphis at least 300 years before Alexander . It was much improved in quality after the Conquest of Egypt by the Romans . Alexandria then became the chief seat of its manufacture . In the third century , Firmus declared

that so large a supply of paper , and such an abundance of materials for its manufacture , existed in Alexandria , that lie could from that source alone maintain an army . In the fifth and sixth centuries the dut y had become oppressive , and when Theodoric abolished it , Capidorus , in one of his letters , congratulates the world upon the

removal of an impost upon merchandise so necessary to mankind . The Saracenic possession of Egypt diminished the supply , so that the eighth and ninth centuries are the latest in which papyrus manuscripts appear ; and it is doubtful whether this substance ever displaced parchment in Britain and Germany . The exact period of the

invention of cotton , paper is unknown , but it was introduced by the Arabs into Spain about the beginning of the twelfth century . The Christians subsequentl y improved the quality of this article . Cotton paper was in general use in the thirteenth century , but was then superseded by that made from linen rags . The earliest

example of linen paper is an Arabic version of the Ap horisms of HipjJoeralci ; A . D . 1100 , in the British Museum . Linen paper was not in general use in any part of Europe until the fifteenth century , but a mixed description was in use long before . The Chinese , it is said , made paper in great perfection from various vegetable substances as early as A . D . 95 . Many attempts have been made to discover an indestructible material to write

upon . Paracelsus proposed what he called " a book of eternity , " the leaves and covers of which were to be of asbestos , and the writing of gold letters ; upon such a book the elements could work no change . The instruments employed for writing and marking with have been various . Those used for marking on the wooden or