Classical Theology.—Xxiv.

and part thereof efficient and blameless . It Avas oven said that the pleaders in actions were compelled to plead Avithout using any ornaments of speech , and that the arraigned party were screened from the view of the judges , lest they might be influenced and moved to compassion by some extraneous or external impressions . They gave sentence in silence ,

some say by night , or in a darkened p lace Avithout li ghts , on paper , whence the saying , as silent as a judge , that is , in tho Avords of Cicero , Areopagita facilurnior .

The Masonic Historical Societies Of Germany.*

THE MASONIC HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF GERMANY . *

nv nno . KDAA ' ARD K . AIU .. Is tracing tho orig in of Freemasonry Ave cannot hesitate to designate as its first source tho associations of journeying builders , whom AVO find , nearly a thousand years ago , following their trade on the continent of Europe as Avell as in Great Britain , enjoying in the latter , as history tells us , special

prerogatives and liberties . The members of these associations , already closely united through the very nature of their daily work , became yet more so by the strict code of morals obtaining among them ; and Avlien in the course of centuries their Lodges Avent to decay , for the reason that the ancient associations had outlived their day , their moral principles

survived in the institution called SpeeulatiA'e Freemasonrya graft upon the ancient tree , whose origin history places in the year 1717 . Under this new form Masonry soon began to extend its benign influence over thc greater part of Europe . Lodges Avere formed in France as early as l 72- > in Germany in

, 1737 , and thoy rapidly increased in number and influence . Not long , hoAveA'er , AA'ere the original and pure principles , for Avliose propagation the institution Avas formed , preserved , as its principal aim . Corruption was first introduced in France , soon deforming into a caricature the plain and simple original fabric . Ashamed of so common a source as that of the

ancient working Masons , the French exerted their ingenuity for the invention of an origin more suited to their peculiar A'ieAvs of merit . Tho , Order of Knights Templar presented itself AA'ith its mysterious ritual , and the history of its biillian t career and rapid decline afforded ample scope for speculation . An imaginary connexion between that knightly order and

modern . Freemasonry Avas soon established , and the direct development of the latter from the remains of the former boldly asserted . Thus it was that the higher degrees , so called , AA'ere brought into being . Tho senseless chimera appertaining thereto , besides fostering certain political tendencies totally foreign to and objectionable to Freemasonry ,

produced a perfectly Babylonic confusion among the Craft all over the continent of Europe ; the true light of Masonry became extinguished , and in its stead arose a phantom , a mixture of conceits and illusions of one self constituted

apostle or another . In its service the brethren wasted their mental powers , their time , and their means . The lost li ght Avas sedulously sought after , but deception blinded the vision , and for nearly half a century scarcely a A'cstigo of ancient English Masonry could be discovered in the outAvard show , in the internal dissensions , and in the ridiculously

meretricious romantic tendencies of those Sir Knights who pretended and mostly belieA'ed themselves to be its votaries ! At length , at least for Germany , the dawn of a UOAV day began to break , when at the Congress of Wilhelmsbad ( 1782 ) , at which almost all Masonic bodies of Germany were represented by delegates , it Avas resolved : "That there is no evidence to

prove the connexion between the Order of Knights Templar and the institution of Freemasonry . " From this resolution dates the reformation of Masonry in Germany—a work in which the association for the study of Masonic history has borne no small share . And here it may not be out of place to give our readers a short sketch of the life of the man

AA'hose name Ave so frequently meet in German Masonic literature , to Avhose ceaseless labour and indomitable energy the society OAVCS its origin , and who , through his deep and intelligent researches succeeded in bringing Masonry in Germany back to its original principles . Frederick Ludwig Schroder Avas born on the 3 rd of

November , 1 / 4-1 , in thc city of'Sehwerin , Mecklemburg . His father had been an organist at Berlin ; he died shortly before the birth of his son , the subject of our sketch . The mother , upon Avhom devolved the support of the family , reduced to indigence partly by the fault of the father , had been obligsd to enter the theatrical ¦ profession , in which

capacity she travelled OA'er the greater part of the continent , performing at the principal cities . Thus in 1747 , Ave find her filling an engagement at St . Petersburg ; and it Avashere Avhere young Schroder , then only three years old , made his first debut upon the stage , amid the applause of the audience and the warmest approbation of the empress Elizabeth . In

1749 , Mrs . Schroder AA'as married to tho actor Conrad Ackermann . When only five years old , Schroder alread y enjoyed a regular salary as an actor , thus contributing towards the support of the family , Avith Avhom he shared all the trials and hardships incident to a professional career that iu those days obliged its votaries to be constantly moving

from place to place as occasion required . Amid a life so full of changes aud irregularities , it is to be Avondered that the boy ' s school education AA'as not entirely neglected ; this IIOAA ' - evcr AA'as not tho case ; he received his first instructions in MOSOOAV , afterwards in the school of the Jesuits in Warsaw , and finally in tho Frederick College at Konigsberg . His

teachers give him the character of a liA'ely , mischievous , but talented and industrious boy . At the commencement of the seven years' Avar his parents , who had in fact always treated him Avith uncommon seA'crity , left him entirely alone at Konigsberg , Avhere , AA'ithout any one to care for him , he AA'ould -undoubtedly have been morally ruined , had he not fortunately been found hy a man AVIIO , in 1758 , visited K . onigsberg . for tho purpose of giving exhibitions as a ropedancer , and to AA'hose humane intercession Schroder is

indebted for an excellent education . Having for some time enjoyed the parental care of his foster-father , he was at last ordered by his parents to join them in Switzerland , Avliere , in company with them , he UOAV commenced to devote himself in earnest to the profession of an actor and dancer . At the age of twenty he AA'as engaged at Hamburg as leader of the

ballot corps ; but soon his superior acquirements in this branch of the theatrical art were put in the shade hy others more congenial to his taste , more suited to his character . Energetic application to Avhatever task he undertook to perform was one of the characteristics of Schriider ; this quality , coupled Avith the advantages of a hihly finished education

g , a strict moral sense , an enthusiastic love for the beautiful , enabled him to surmount all difficulties , and raised him from the comparatively humble position of a bullet dancer to the proud one of the greatest German tragedian of his day ; a position Avhich he kneAv so Avell IIOAV to improve , that his name , in conjunction Avith those of some other

contemporaneous authors and actors of renoAvn , has become identified Avith the movement that elevated the stage and the dramatic art to the position that it UOAV occupies in society , and which until then had been deemed unattainable . As an author , Schroder , has given to the world , aside from his literary works on Masonry , and numerous essays , chiefly

humanitarian in their character , a number of original plays that are still admired by tho jmblic , whenever the } ' are brought upon the stage , as likewise a great variety of translations of foreign authors , especially of Shakspeare , AA'I IOSO tragedies he adapted to the German stage , himself personating the principal characters ; and this he did to such perfection , that his very fellow actors AA'ere frequently affected to tears . A celebrated actress , after having played the part of Cordelia , with Schroder as King Lear , positively refused ever again to appear Avith