opinions. Be not forward to assign reasons to those who have no right to ask. Think nothing in conduct unimportant and indifferent.-Rather set than follow examples, practise a strict temperance, and in all your transactions remember the final account.

SEVEN WIVES.-Sir Gervase Clifton, a gentleman of Yorkshire, was "blessed with seven wives"-so the epilogue of his own writing says. The first three, who were maidens, he called honourable. The second three, who were widows, he calls worshipful; and the seventh, who was a servant-maid, born under his own roof, he calls his well-beloved. Each of the six agreed to the marriage of the next, before her death, and at that awful period were attended by their successors. Sir Gervase has several children by his last wife, some of whose descendants now enjoy the family estate. He lies buried at the head of his wives.

THE OBJECT OF EDUCATION.-The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think than what to think-rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men.-Beattie.

ORIGIN OF QUARRELS.-The sweetest, the most clinging, affection is often shaken by the slightest breath of unkindness, as the delicate rings and tendrils of the vine are agitated by the faintest air that blows in summer. An unkind word from one beloved often draws blood from many a heart which would defy the battle-axe of hatred, or the keenest edge of vindictive satire. Nay, the shade, the gloom of the face familiar and dear awakens grief and pain. These are the little thorns which, though men of a rougher form may make their way through them without feeling much, extremely incommode persons of a more refined turn in their journey through life, and make their travelling irksome and unpleasant.

SELF-GOVERNMENT.-Let not any one say he cannot govern his passions, nor hinder them breaking out and carrying him into action; for what he can do before a prince or a great man, he can do alone, or in the presence of God, if he will.-Locke.

WOMEN are the Corinthian pillars that adorn and support society; the institutions that protect women throw a shield around children; and where women and children are provided for, man must be secure in his rights.

COURTSHIP.-Girls, remember that the man who bows, smiles, and says so many soft things to you, has no genuine love; while he who loves you most sincerely, struggles to hide the weakness of his heart, and frequently appears decidedly awkward.

MARRIAGE. I look upon a man's attachment to a woman who deserves it as the greatest possible safeguard to him in his dealings with the world; it keeps him from all those small vices which the unfettered youth thinks little of, yet which certainly, though slowly, undermine the foundations of better things, till in the end the whole fabric of right and wrong gives way under the assault of temptation.—James.

ENVY.-Envy is a plant of very common growth; it is, alas! the moral upas tree of the domestic hearth, whose poisonous influence separates young hearts that should have loved and grown together. Sister too often envies sister, and brother brother. Cain envied Abel,

and smote and slew him; the patriarchs were moved with envy, aud sold their brother for a slave. Is the picture too highly coloured? Alas! no; the mind this desperate passion sways shrinks from no littleness-resorts to every artifice to serve its purpose. Falsehood, detraction, calumny-these are the weapons envy loves to wield; and the wounds they leave are rarely healed without a scar; for while the covetous man seeks to defraud us of our wealth, or the ambitious thrusts us on one side, that he may seize the prize we sought to grasp-the envious spirit strikes at our happiness and peace of mind-or reputation or good name. It is possible to replace wealth-ambition's loss is often a real gain; but with our perished happiness we lose our power of enjoyment; and our reputation sullied is, alas! a reputation lost. There is a sort of stern nobility in pride to which we yield involuntary homage. Ambition, too, even while it startles, fascinates and thralls; for in both we see the towering offspring of a lofty heart; but envy is a mean, grovelling feeling, which springs, like avarice, from a little mind. Twin sisters also; for though the miser is not always envious, you will seldom find a disposition in which envy forms a striking feature free from the love of gold.

IMMORTALITY AND OBLIVION.-Who knows whether the best of men be known, or whether there be not more remarkable persons forgot than any that stand remembered in the known account of time? Without the favour of the everlasting register the first man had been as unknown as the last, and Methusela's long life had been his only chronicle. Oblivion is not to be hired. The greatest part must be content to be as though they had not been-to be found in the register of God, not in the record of man. Twenty-seven names make up the first story before the flood; and the recorded names ever since contain not one living century. The number of the dead long exceedeth all that shall live. The night of time far surpasseth the day, and who knows when was the equinox? Every hour adds unto that current arithmetic which scarce stands one moment. And since death must be the Lucina of life, and even Pagans could doubt whether thus to live were to die, since our longest suns set at right descensions, and make but winter arches, and therefore it cannot be long before we lie down in darkness and have our night in ashes-since the brother of death daily haunts us with dying mementos; and time, that grows old in itself, bids us hope no long duration-diuturnity is a dream, and folly of expectation. Darkness and light divide the course of time, and oblivion shares with memory a great part even of our living beings-we slightly remember our felicities, and the smartest strokes of affliction leave but short smart upon us. Sense endureth no extremities, and sorrows destroy us or themselves. To weep into stones are fables. Affliction induces callosities-misseries are slippery, or fall like snow upon us, which, notwithstanding, is no unhappy stupidity. To be ignorant of evils to come, and forgetful of evils past, is a merciful provision in nature, whereby we digest the mixture of our few and evil days; and our delivered senses not relapsing into cutting remembrances, our sorrows are not kept raw by the edge of repetitions. A great part of antiquity contented their hopes of subsistency with a transmigration of their souls-a good way to continue their memories, while, having the advantage of plural successions, they could not but act something remarkable in such variety of beings, and enjoying the fame of their

passed selves, make accumulation of glory unto their last durations. Others, rather than be lost in the uncomfortable night of nothing, were content to recede into the common being, and make one particle of the public souls of all things, which was no more than to return into their unknown and divine original again. Egyptian ingenuity was more unsatisfied, contriving their bodies in sweet consistencies to attend the return of their souls. But all was vanity, feeding the wind, and folly. The Egyptian mummies, which Cambyses or time hath spared, avarice now consumeth. Mummy is become merchandise. Mizraim feures wounds, and Pharaoh is sold for balsams. There is nothing strictly immortal but immortality. Whatever hath no beginning may be confident of no end which is the peculiar of that necessary essence that cannot destroy itself, and the highest strain of omnipotency to be so powerfully constituted as not to suffer even from the power of itself, —all others have a dependant being, and within the reach of destruction. But the sufficiency of Christian immortality frustrates all earthly glory, and the quality of either state after death makes a folly of posthumous memory. God, who can only destroy our souls, and hath assured our resurrection, either of our bodies or names hath directly promised no duration. Wherein there is much of chance that the boldest expectants have found unhappy frustration, and to hold long subsistence seems but a scapeğin oblivion. But man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing nativities and deaths with equal lustre, nor omitting ceremonies of bravery in the infamy of his nature.-Sir T. Browne.

FLATTERY SOMETIMES SERVICEABLE.-A bear, who was taking his lesson in dancing, and who believed that he could not fail to be admired, paused for a moment on his hind legs to ask an ape how he liked his dancing. "To say the truth, friend, you dance very badly; you are too heavy. "But surely I do not want grace; and what you call heaviness, may it not be dignity of carriage?" and Bruin re-commenced his practice with somewhat of an offended air. "Bravo!" cried an ass, who now passed by, "such light and graceful dancing I have never seen; it is perfection." But this unqualified praise was too much for even the self-love of the bear, and startled by it into modesty, he said within himself, “While the ape only censured, I doubted, but now that the ass praises me, I am sure I must dance horribly." Friends, suffer a word of advice: when good taste censures, hesitate, doubt; when folly applauds, be certain you are all in the wrong.-Demme.

A KIND ACT.-How sweet is the remembrance of a kind act! As we rest on our pillow, or rise in the morning, it gives us delight. We have performed a good deed to a poor man ; we have made the widow's heart rejoice; we have dried the orphan's tears. Sweet, oh! how sweet, the thought! There is luxury in remembering the kind act. A storm careers about our heads, all is black as midnight-but the sunshine is in our own bosom-the warmth is felt there. The kind act rejoiceth the heart, and giveth delight inexpressible. Who will not be kind? Who will not be good? Who will not visit those who are afflicted in body and mind? To spend an hour among the poor and depressed-

Is worth a thousand passed

In pomp and ease; 'tis present to the last.

POETRY.

A MASONIC CHAUNT,

FOR REVOLUTIONARY TIMES.

WITH a tempest roaring round her, and before a rushing blast,
The good ship Bonny England sails fearlessly and fast;
Quick lightning flashes glare athwart the dark and troubled sky,
But still the red-cross pennon floats, a meteor flag on high;
Hoarse thunders boom incessantly, and the angry sea replies,
In a voice of fearful menace, to the clamour of the skies;
But, still unscathed, the ship holds on her free and fearless path,
Nor heeds the angry thunderbolt, nor heeds the lightning's wrath;
The fountains of the deep are loosed, and throb, and heave, and sway,
No pause, no check, that vessel knows in her bold and onward way;
For by her massive bulwarks, and on her decks there stand,
Of steadfast men, with steadfast hearts, a stout and stalwart band.
There are none more stout and steadfast among that gallant crew
Than the brethren of our ancient Craft, the loyal and the true,
To this good old ship, this brave old ship, that breasts the foaming tide,
We'll cleave and cling, in storm or shine, let weal or woe betide ;
For we are bound by solemn bonds, to be true to father-land,
And if need be, to guard the throne from treason's red right hand;
To live in BROTHERLY LOVE, and give RELIEF to those in ruth,
In peril or peace to prize as gems, honour and sacred truth.

-Brixton Brewery.

JAMES SMITH,
Castle Lodge.

THE RED-CROSS FLAG.

UNFURL that glorious banner, fling forth its glittering folds,
And let it float, like a silver cloud, above our mighty holds;
Above our sea-girt fortresses that crown each rocky steep,
And frown like haughty giants on the vex'd and surging deep;
Above our white-sail'd thunderers-above that gallant host,
Who never raised the craven cry-" Retreat, for all is lost!"
Yes, proudly let the red-cross float o'er all the pleasant land,
And be that silvery pennon seen on every foreign strand ;
No taint upon its sunny folds, no stain upon its fame,
Our English flag unsullied flies, as spotless as our name.

JAMES SMITH,

Castle Lodge.

MASONIC INTELLIGENCE.

MASTERS', PAST MASTERS', AND WARDENS' CLUB.

(Circular.)

Crosby Hall Chambers, London, 14th July, 1848.

SIR AND BROTHER,-Several brethren having the best interests of Freemasonry at heart, have for some time been convinced of the necessity of the existence of a Club, and to this end have established the Masters', Past Masters', and Wardens' Club, to which all brethren are eligible who are members of the Grand Lodge of England.

As the principal desire is to have the list of members as numerous as possible, the subscription is fixed at five shillings per annum for brethren whose lodges are within the Metropolitan district, and two shillings and six-pence per annum for those in the provinces.

The General Meetings will be held on the first Wednesday in March, June, September, an December, at six o'clock precisely.

The essential object of the Club is to place before its members such matters as affect the well-being of the Craft, and to invite the expression of opinion of each brother upon all questions; by which means, it is hoped, much useful information may be imparted, and great advantages accrue to the fraternity at large.

It is proper to state, that in no instance will matters proposed for discussion in Grand Lodges be put to the vote; members, consequently, will not be precluded from carrying out their own particular views.

The Club, moreover, determines to adopt only those means which can by all be considered as fair, legitimate, and straight-forward; besides, upon all occasions to pay the most fraternal regard to the opinions and suggestions of those of its own body.

Those members who, from distance or other cause, are prevented from being present at the meetings of the Club, are invited to forward their communications by letter to the Secretary, in order that the same may receive the best consideration of the council.

Members of country lodges are requested to join, as by so doing, much that is useful and beneficial may be reciprocally imparted.

Your co-operation and assistance in promoting these objects are respectfully invited.

By order of the Council.

I am, Sir and Brother, yours fraternally,

J. R. SCARBOROUGH, Hon. Sec.

The prospects of this Club continue to be very promising; many provincial brethren have already enrolled themselves.