Notes On Literature, Science And Art.

tant pastor . * * __ If any Protestants were found singing psalms , or engaged in prayer , in their own houses , they were liable to have their entire property confiscated , aud to be sent to . the galleys for life . " Of course , Protestants fled in hot haste from such tyranny ; not less than one million of the best men ancl women ancl their

children fled to add then- skill and piety to that of Switzerland , Germany , Holland , and Great Britain . Those who left the country had their property confiscated ; the men taken in attempting to escape were sent to the galleys , the Avomen to prison for life ; whilst for fear a poor fugitive

might have escaped the inhuman hounds of the tyrant , who were rewarded with half of the possessions of all they captured or informed against , the very holds of the foreign-bound ships were " fumigated with a deadly gas , " so that they might be

suffocated like rats in their hiding-holes . Such is the true spjirit of Popery wherever it dare show itself in its own colours , and yet Ave have simpletons who Avonder that Freemasonry should be put under the ban of the most intolerant of all churches

Truly betiveen Freemasonry and Popery there is " a great gulf fixed , " and it is foolish of any one ever to attempt to bridge it . If Truth only is eternal , one of the two must perish before the progress of the other , ancl I have faith enough to believe that

Freemasonry will flourish long after Papistry has gone the Avay of all evil things . Mr . J . Tom Burgess , of Leamington , F . S . A ., some of Avhose literary and antiquarian labours have been noticed in the MASONIC MAGAZINE , has been elected Archaiological Secretary to the Warwickshire Field Club , of whicli he has been for some time a useful member .

A strong feeling is beginning to prevail , that the telegraph wires now supported by unsightly posts , whicli at present disfigure many a lovely landscape , will have to give place to subterranean cables , as in heavy snowstorms the exposed wires are apt to become useless Avhen most wanted .

Anecdotes of great men are always interesting , and the following , related by George Ticknor , is particularly so : — " We spent half the forenoon in Mr . West ' s gallery , where he has arranged all the pictures that he still owns . . . He told us a singular anecdote of Nelson , while we were

looking at the picture of his death . Just before he went to sea for the last time , West sat next to him at a large entertainment given to him here , and in the course of the dinner Nelson expressed to Sir William Hamilton his regret that in his youth he had not acquired some taste for

art , and some power of discrimination . — ' But , ' said he , turning to West , 'there is one picture whose power I do feel . I never pass a paint-shop where your "Death of Wolfe" is in the window , without beingstopped by it . ' Westof course , made his

, acknowledgments , and Nelson went on to ask wh y he had painted no more like it . — ' Because , my lord , there are no more subjects . '— 'D it , ' said the sailor , 'I didn ' t think of that , ' ancl asked him to take a glass of Champagne . — ' But , my lord , I

fear your intrepidity will yet- furnish me such another scene ; and , if it should , I shall certainly avail myself of it . '— ' Will you ? ' said Nelson , pouring out bumpers , and touching his glass violently against West ' s— ' will you , Mr . West 1 then I hope that I shall die in the next battle . ' He

sailed a lew days after , and the result was on the canvas before us . " The Austrian Consul at Alexandria has discovered a new cotton-yielding plant in Egypt , said to he more prolific than that of America , ancl to require less space for its

cultivation . As it requires large quantities cf water , the plant will either have to be cultivated where water is already plentiful , or the water conducted to the places where it is IIOAV too scarce . Either way , or in both Avays , the difficulty may soon be

overcome if properly set about . Hitherto the United States has been our greatest importer of cotton , the East Indies ranking second , Brazil third , and Egypt fourth . Although theological discussions , are very properly prohibited among Freemasons

as such , the following reasonable passage from Mr . Frederick Ross ' s able lecture on the Progress of Civilization is well worthy of attention by those mistaken members of the Craft who would fain limit its ancient privileges to the professors ( who are too

seldom the best practisers ) of Christianity ; ancl who really remove the ancient landmarks of our Order when they deny the Jews admission among us : "I can never look upon a Jew , " says he , " however undignified his calling , without a feeling of respect , as the