third degree, in which the following words occur: "In the character of a Master Mason, you are henceforth authorized to correct the errors and irregularities of brethren, and guard them against a breach of fidelity. To improve the morals and correct the manners of men in society must be your constant care." To this let us add a single sentence from the late Bro. Dr. Oliver's sermon on the Masonic obligations: "Permit me faithfully to enforce the obligated duty of brotherly love, which, for brevity's sake, we will observe consists, first, in gentle reproof of an error; secondly, kind instruction and advice in ignorance and difficulties; and, thirdly, tender commiseration and relief in sorrow and distress." From all this it appears that it is the duty of Freemasons to watch over their brethren in a kind and brotherly manner-one brother addressing another as occasion may appear, or the matter, if necessary, being brought before the lodge, that the honor of the Brotherhood may be maintained. That no brother has any concern with the conduct of another, is contrary to the very first principles of Freemasonry, and to the idea of brotherhood which prevades all. It is contrary also to scriptural rules, which all Freemasons, professing to be Christians, respect as of the highest authority. They have the Bible open in their lodges; they carry it in their processions, and professing the greatest brotherly kindness and highest brotherhood amongst each other, they cannot be indifferent to what they acknowledge as divine instructions concerning the conduct of brethren towards brethren. In one of the Books of Moses, we read this ancient rule given to the children of Israel: "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt not in anywise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." There is something extremely beautiful in the preface-as it may be called- "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart," connected as it is with the precept that follows; and it admirably exhibits the character of that brotherly love which Christians profess, and ought to exhibit-which Freemasons also profess one towards another, and which they claim as an especial characteristic of their Order. In perfect accordance with this rule of brotherly kindness are all the sentences bearing on the same subject which we find in other parts of the sacred scripture-as "He that saith unto the wicked thou art righteous, him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him. But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them; " and "He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue." The great rule of Christianity, on this point may be said to be that given by our Lord himself: "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee, thou has gained thy brother, but if he

will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church; but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." The organization of the Christian Church is, as all Christians believe, of Divine institution; the Masonic Brotherhood is to be regarded only as a human device, but may well claim to be esteemed as the most excellent of all schemes ever devised for promoting the welfare of men, by establishing the bonds of brotherhood amongst men of very various sentiments in religion and politics. The principles, however, which are appointed to regulate the one, must be seen at a glance to be suitable tc the other, and the excellence of these principles, and of the rules founded upon them, or in which they are conveyed, no man whatever may be his religious opinion or creed, can for a moment dispute. The Christian acknowledges their supreme authority; the Mahommedan, the Brahmin, or the Parsee, must all acknowledge them as admirably adapted to the requirements of human nature, and calculated to promote true brotherhood amongst men.

From all this, it is not difficult to learn how Freemasons ought to conduct themselves towards one another, however difficult it may be in practice to act aright, and to carry out, in a proper manner, the rules aud principles of brotherhood. It is difficult for most men, and particularly for those of the most tender disposi tion, and full of the kindest brotherly feeling, to rebuke or find fault with a brother, to point out to him the errors of his conduct and to urge upon him the necessity of amendment. Rudeness in speech or manner would almost certainly be of bad effect, and to maintain a perfect gentleness and brotherly love in pointing out the enormity of a gross offense, it is far from being easy. In what cases the matter should be brought under the cognizance of the lodge, it may be also sometimes difficult to determine. It may, perhaps, be safely assumed that this ought not to be done where there is no scandal affecting the character of the lodge and the general interests of the Order; but that, where such is the case, no time ought to be lost in doing it. The character of the lodge ought to be dear to every member of it, and the honor of the Order to every Freemason; and to maintain these it is requisite that no brother shall be allowed to pass uncensured, who is guilty of scandalous immorality. The ancient rules of the Order very particularly insist upon the duty of chastity, and a member of the Order living in concubinage,-still more, one who lies under the reproach of any worse transgression of the seventh commandment-cannot be too soon subjected to the discipline which these rules enjoin, and debarred from fellowship with the lodge and 3. VOL. XVIII, NO IV.—APRIL, 1873.

from all enjoyment of the Masonic privileges, until his evil course of life is relinquished, and he has shown himself worthy of being restored. The same rule must of course be applied to cases of habitual drunkenness, to cases of dishonesty, and the like. Far too little attention has been paid by Freemasons to the duty of watching over one another, and thus maintaining the character of their own lodge and of the order, whilst at the same time they render a brotherly service to their brethren in seeking to reclaim them to those paths of honor and virtue in which every true Mason should walk. It is a duty not to be discharged in a spirit of inquisitiveness or censoriousness. We ought not to pry into the affairs of our brethren nor to be ready to take up a reproach against them; but neither ought we resolutely to wink at any case of flagrant immorality, nor to shut our ears against reports which are so current that every one not wilfully deaf must hear them, and of such a nature that a virtuous and really innocent man would be glad of an opportunity of vindicating himself with regard to them.-London Freemason.

AIDS TO STUDY.

BY BRO. W. CARPENTER.

I have, in a former paper, said something on the ancient monuments of Egypt, and on the progress made in the study and interpretation of the hieroglyphic writing. The early records of Egyptian history are to be found in her own monuments and books. Egypt has been called the monumental land of the earth; and well it may be so designated, when reference is had to the incredible number of monuments found in the valley of the Nile. All the cities were adorned with temples and palaces, while the towns of less note had each one temple, at least, often more. With these early people it was the universal practice to cover the works of art, of every description, with heiroglyphics, the purport of which relabed strictly to the monuments on which they were inscribed. No nation that ever lived, says Lepsius, has made so much use of its written system, or applied it to so strictly historical a purpose as ancient Egypt. "There was not a wall, a platform, a pillar, an architrave, a frieze, or even a door post in an Egyptian temple which was not carved within, without, and on every available surface with pictures in relief. There is not one of these reliefs that is

not history. The hieroglyphic writings were absolutely essential and indispensible too the decoration of a perfect Egyptian temple. This writing, moreover, was also inscribed on objects of art of every conceivable description. There was no colossus too great and no amulet to small to be inscribed with the name of its owner, and some account of the occasion on which it was executed." The monuments of Egypt stud the whole valley of the Nile, with only one interruption, from the Delta through Upper Egypt and Nubis to the Island of Meroe. To these monuments must be added the innumerable extant books, chiefly of religious ritual and moral precepts, which the Egyptians wrote, from time immemorial, upon the delicate membrane prepared from the reed.called papyrus which gave its name to paper.

This mass of records, however, was sealed up in an unknown character until the present century, when the famous Rosetta Stone-of which and of those who, by their labors, have contributed to the interpretation of Egyptian writing I have already said something was brought to light. The wide field of Egyptian literature laid open by these discoveries is, as yet, but very partially explored, and the treasures we possess are but a gleaning of those that are lost. Any one desirous to see more on the subject of Egyptian paintings, monumental inscriptions, and papyri, without the labor of reading all that the various Egyptologists, French and English, have produced, may find it in Smith's "Ancient History of Asia," and many of the pictures reproduced from the tombs that have been explored, may be found in the works of Wilkinson, Osborn, Rosallini and Bunsen.

We have seen that while the stone-built pyramids and temples, palaces and tombs, of Memphis and Thebes are still the wonder of the world, and Alexandria remains the great port of the Levant, the brick-built towers and walls and palaces of Nineveh, Babylon, and Susa, and even the later capitals of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, are formless mounds; the vague landmarks of vanished empires. But here, as Smith observes, comes in another happy resemblance to Egypt; for these mounds have become, in our time, to yield up their long hidden contributions to the history of the East, and I may add to yield their long enduring testimony to the verity of the Biblical history. We have seen, in a former paper, that the whole region of Mesopotamia, or the country between the two rivers the Euphrates and the Tigris-the Aram Naharaim of the Old Testament, formed in the most important parts of its history, the single empire, first of Assyria, and afterward, of Babylon. It was the field on which all the races of the ancient world, from Nimrod to the successors of Mahomet,'contended for the empire of Western Asia; and, in our time, the extension of Egypt's empire on the Euphrates has been prevented only by European intervention.

Just now public attention has again been directed to this region, by the reading of a paper before the Biblical Archeological Society by Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum, on a Cuneiform Inscription containing the Chaldean account of the Deluge, dating from the reign of Assurbanipal, B. C. 668. This ancient clay book will fall within our notice, among other equally interesting and important recovered monuments of these once magnificent regions.

EDITORIAL.

THE BIBLE, SQUARE AND COMPASS.

There is no system that so completely illustrates and exemplifies the teachings of nature, and revelation, as symbolic Masonry. It harmonizes with the highest impressions that can be made upon the mind. All moral truths are symbolically illustrated in the lessons of Masonry. And there is a harmony existing between the moral teachings of Masonry, and the spiritual ideas of Christianity. By Christianity, we mean that system of broad principles, which exists clear from the dogmatisms of sect and party. In nature we find lessons of wisdom, and towers of strength, beautifully symbolized in Masonry.

Before the neophyte crosses the threshold of the Masonic Temple, his mind is impressed with ideas of symbolry. The first ray of light that meets his eye he beholds the Bible, Square and Compass. The real value of each he then learns. Without them no Masonic Lodge can have an existence. No one can be made a Mason without them. No true Mason would sit in a Lodge without this divine book of the law, and accompanied with the square and compass lying upon the open pages of this great light. Total darkness would surround the place, were it not for the rays of light from the altar. And even the altar would be like a dark black cloud without them.

But the symbolic lessons of Masonry require a fixed purpose and determination of the mind to gain knowledge of all that is valuable and beneficial in life. It is obvious why these three great lights of Masonry, should be placed upon the altar, and lie open in the midst of the craft. They are the central lights reflecting the wisdom, beauty and strength of our beloved institution. By them a knowledge of the principles of Masonry is reached, and a faith in God is enjoyed.

What practical utility can there be, in having the Square and Compass rest upon the open Bible? The bible being regarded by all Masons, who believe in its divine teachings, as the sacred trestle-board; where life and immortality which is the crowning spiri