The F.C. Degree, Illustrated From The New Testament, &C.

So wise and virtuous , whom God had chosen , according to his heart , who became deaf to his advice and proud on seeing himself one of the most powerful Kings of the Avorld , forgot the goodly gifts of the Lord , and abandoned himself to all manner of excesses , and Avhose complaisance to the sex : ( as amiable as dangerous ) took him from the duty which his

forefathers paid to the eternal , until he profaned the Holy Temple by offering to the idol Moloch frankin ^ cense that never was to burn , but for the service of the sanctum sanctorum . This shows how utterly powerless the wisest man is to wrestle against the great enemy of our souls , whose faith is not founded

on the rock of ages . The steps which form an important part of the ceremonies of Craft Masonry are as follows : — E . A . P ., 3 ; F . C , 5 ; M . M ., 7 ; and E . A . 9 ( making togther 24 ) ; corresponding with the natural division of the day and night , also with the division of the 24 m . gauge , the beautiful application of Avhich in our system of Masonic teaching is well-known to every E . A . P . '

The five steps in this degree have a threefold signification . Firstly , the ascent of a winding staircase , leading , as we are taught , to the middle chamber of K . S . ' s Temple , where the F . C . ' s assembled for certain purposes ; secondly , to the five Orders of Architecture ; thirdly , to the number necessary to form a

F . C . lodge . The staircase is very obscurely described in our ritual ; but Josephus says ( "Antiquities , " book vii . chap . 3 ) , "The King also has a fine contrivance for an ascent to the upper room over the Temple , and that was by steps in the thickness of the wall , for it had no large door on the east end

, as the lower house had , but the entrances were by the sides through very small doors , and when he had cut a door-place in the wall , he put therein doors of cedar , and OA erlaid them with a great deal of gold , and had sculpture upon it ; he also had viels of blue , and purpleand scarletand the brihtest and softest of

, , g linen , with the most curious of flowers wrought upon them , which were to be draAvn before those doors ; the door for the middle chamber Avas in the right side of the house , and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber , and out of the middle into the third " ( 1 Kings vi . 8 ) .

How this description can possibly be identified with the extraordinary fli ght of steps depicted on the lodge board ( not the tracing board ) in the second degree , puzzles any hut a Masonic architect or G . Supt . of Works , to say nothing of the difficulties K . S ., with his magnificent following , must have had Avhen dodging round it , when he entered by the grand entrance below .

Our lectures are silent on the subject , but our lectures carry out fully Hamlet ' s instructions to the players— " Let those that play your CIOAVUS speak no more than is put down for them ; " and as to any reason for our faith that is in them , they say Avith Falstaff , "What , upon compulsion ? Give you a

reason upon compulsion ? If reasons were as plenty as blackberries , I Avould give no man a reason upon compulsion . " In English lodges , the candidate is instructed by the Deacon to take those steps on the floor ; but they manage those ceremonies better in France . There , the E . A . P . is obliged to ascend three planks , the

The F.C. Degree, Illustrated From The New Testament, &C.

third of which is rendered dangerous and difficult by rough and uneven blocks ancl other obstacles , and before being passed to the second degree , he must cross the bridge of knowledge which spans the stream of ignorance . This is simply a counterpart of the bridge ( not the K . H . ladder , which is quite a different thing ) , It is described in page 167 ISTo .

, 321 , of the FEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE , Avhich is introduced in the 30 fch degree of the Ancient ancl Accepted Eite . Its most appropriate plan certainly appears to be between the E . A . P . and F . C degrees , as in the former degree the E . A . P . was allowed to make himself acquainted with the princip les of moral truth

and virtue , the first seven , or ascending steps ; and in the latter , the F . C is permitted to extend his researches into the hidden mysteries of nature and science , the remaining seven , or descending steps of the bridge ; but , in the present divided jurisdiction of English Freemasonry , it is not at all likely the authorities would consent to such an innovation . Yonrs fraternally , EOSA CRUCIS .

The Pen-And-Ink Sketches Of One Fang.

THE PEN-AND-INK SKETCHES OF ONE FANG .

TO ins EDITOII or THE JREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIKKOB . DEAU SIE AND BEOTHEE , —I send you herewith a series of fifteen tracings taken from draAvings in a Chinese work of no very great antiquity , entitled " Fang Shi Mo Pu ; or , The Pen-and-ink Sketches of One Fang . " The book was published some years after its author ' s death—that is to sayduring the

, reign of the Ming Emperor "Wang Li ( A . D . 1573 to 1621 ) . It is made up of numerous draAvings of trees , shrubs , animals , buildings , seals , pottery , and ancient houses , and the manner in which it was compiled is set forth in one of the many prefaces Avhich introduce the work to the public . We are tolcl that

whenever Shi saw anything strange , beautiful or ancient , he immediately pulled his tablets out and took a sketch of it . A friend of the artist , AVIIO seems to have superintended the preparation of the book for the press , gives us also a few particulars about Shi . This man , named Tai Hang , in his introduction to the sketches , says : — " During his lifetime Shi Avas noted for the fidelity of his drawings . His best efforts

were directed to the representation of shrubs , which he endeavoured not so much to copy slavishly in all their minute details , as to transfer to paper Avith an eye to the general effect of the whole . For this reason , Avhile looking at the pictures of trees , they seemed to you before your eyes . " The drawings which I noAV submit to the readers of the

FEEEMASONS' MAGAZINE may therefore be considered tolerably accurate copies of the originals , Avhieh , no doubt , were found in Buddhistic Avorks and temple symbols . I have no means at hand of discovering the meaning of the Indian characters which enter so largely into these drawings , but no doubt many of

your readers will be able to throw additional light on this part of the subject . The Chinese legends which appear on the face of the draAvings I have translated . With regard to the meaning of these drawings I have consulted many of the standard works ( Chinese ) on Buddhism , and have invoked the assistance of several Ho Shane / , or priests . The latter are , however , as a rule , so grossly ignorant that it is a hope-