The Seal Of Solomon.

THE SEAL OF SOLOMON .

ZO . VDOiV , SATITJIBAV , SEPTEMBER 10 , 1839 ,

CONSIDERING tlie labours of our Craft at tlie building of the first temple , and the important position in Masonry assigned to King Solomon , his magnificent seal ought to prove an . interesting subject of investigation by the brethren of tlie Order . This signet is described as " the sacred stamp of Israel , " bearing a device significant of promised spirit and grace , and the motto , " The Lord knowetli them that are his . "

A circle surmounted by a cross is meant to represent m the East a sceptre and dove ; and this is the device upon the seal of Avliioli Ave Avrite . The prophet Job , grandson of Keturah , Abraham ' s second Avife , carried many holy things and customs into Persia , from which country Hebreiv ideas Avere disseminated all over the East among the Assyrians and Babyloniansas Avell as elseivhere .

, The gate of Semirainis ( of ivhich Mr . Bryant gives a learned account ) was itself an emblem , and the name a compound of "Sama Ramis , " or "Romis , " signified "the Divino Token , " " the type of Providence ; " and as a military ensign , it may with some latitude be interpreted "the standard of the Most High . " It consisted of the figure of a dove , which

was probably encircled with the iris , as those two emblems were often represented together . All wdio understood that standard , or ivho paid any deference to that emblem , were styled " Semarim " and " Seniorim . " One of the gates of Babylon was styled the gate of Semiramis , undoubtedly from having the sacred emblem of Sama Ramisor the dovesculptured

, , by ivay of distinction over it . The subject of the doi'e is connected with religion in all tongues , and this mysterious emblem seriously contemplated affords scope for much comment . It teaches faithfulness ,

love , truth , beauty , timidity , and Christianity . The rod , or sceptre , was of more ancient origin as a , mark of sovereignty than the crown . Many of these staves had a device upon them , especially in Persia—sometimes an apple or a pomegranate , an eagle or a dove ; perhaps the Hebrewnation had the same , for their rods or staves regulated their

steps and journeys . Solomon ' s reign was the most glorious , and his crown shone the brightest beyond all of those recorded in tho Hebrew Book of Kings . During the whole of his life he had peace on every side , and each of his subjects sat under the shadow ; of his own vine and his own . fig tree . Solomon perfected the

hereditary right of the Hebrew nation , wliich was to be entrusted with the revelations of Cod , in preference to all other nations . And he felt tho awful responsibility lie ivas ' under to maintain unpolluted truth and wisdom . In erect- I ing the earthly temple , which was tho wonder of the Avorld , he ¦ doubtless intended to present the pure type of heaven ' s

everlasting one ; for Christ is tho true temple . He himself spake j of his own body . We may also observe that tho Psalms of David , particularly the loth , and 20 th , forcibly make use of the image " a holy seal , " ivhich is described there as being set upon the in- ; spired people of the Lord . !

An Excursion Very Ear West.

AN EXCURSION VERY EAR WEST .

I HAD lately arrived in the New World , after forming intimacies on board the ocean steamer with several wandering spirits like myself ; and together we resolved to explore the unknown region which lay before us . Together we visited its newl y built cities , ivith their spacious churches and statel y halls ; traced the course of its noble river glittering with

rapids , until at length we reached the g lorious Niagara , to look on which for a single day is Avoyfch a thousand miles ' journey . We had still . another desire—that , of seeing the Indians of i-Hf woods , thft f $ )'<" Of ? pwittmy ? ,

their natural state , The hunting grounds to -which they have retreated were still many hundred miles further ivest ; but fortune favoured our wishes so far that it ivas the season . Avhen they come down in . thousands to a military post at the head of Lake Huron , to receive the gifts annually presented to them by government as a compensation for the lauds

ceded by them to the whites . Such an opportunit y ivas not to be slighted , so hiring a cutter and crew together with an experienced guide , at the foot of the lake , we Avere soon speeding on . after the setting sun—sometimes out of si ght of land , tossing among the sweet fresh wavesat others coasting along the silvery

, sands which alone divided the primeval forest from the lake , and anon threading our way through groups of fairy isletsuntil at length Ave cast anchor at Drummond ' s Island , fifteen hundred miles west of the Atlantic .

A quiet spot , it was said to be at other seasons , inhabited but b y a small military party and a few traders , with two or three hundred civilized Indians dwelling in the vicinity . But now the summer sun . shone down on a whole city of wigwams , congregated on tho broad green sv'ard , spreading up from the shore ,. and the air resounded with the murmur of its ten . thousand inhabitants—OttoAvas , Winnebagoes , Minominies , and Sioux . '

To us who ivci-G-neWto those regions , that city was deeply interesting , for it contained innumerable phases of life such as we had never before witnessed . It ivas to us a novel sight—each little flotilla of canoes coming skimming across the lake like- a flock of sea-birds , Avith a gay union jack , floating as proudly as an admiral ' s flag from the stern of one

, in token of its owner ' s chieftainship ; and then to see the occupants of each little craft , as it touched the strand , spring out into the Avater , and , with a wild yell , such as issues from Indian lips alone , lift their li ght boat , and rush with it out of reach of the Avaves , Avhich otherwise Avould soon have . Avrccfeed its liirlifc frame of laths and coverino- of birchen

bark ! The Indian ' s task was then done , and he Hung himself idly oil the grass , or else , joining some others , smoked a pipe of cherry wood , with a carved stone bowl , whose length and size Avould have made three English " clays" hide their diminished heads and stems . Wifch all his chivalry in war ,

tho Indian is AVO fully deficient in the attention due to the gentler sex , or ho ivould noA'er have left to his slender young squaw ( as tho English have corrupted the pretty Ojibbeway word " cqua" ) the weary task of unloading the canoe . Indian dignity says Avoman is the inferior being , and deeply does he make her i ' eol ifc , for on lier devolves all the menial

labour—the erection of the wigwam , the arrangement of its contents in . the shape of mats and furs , weapons and ornaments , pots and kettles , and wooden bowls . Then she must fetch wood from the bush , and water from the lake to cook her husband ' s sturgeon soup , and feed the gaunt vicious looking dogs ivhich are his companions in the chaseand the

, half tamed fox that is the wigwam pet ; and , Avhen all this is done , she has for the first time leisure to attend to the babe , who , ivith the patience and endurance which perhaps ages of practice have rendered inherent in his race , bus reniMned quietly all this time in his wooden cradle , leaning against a tree .

The Indian , hoivever , docs not altogether escape ^ the penalty due fco his Avanfc of gallantry : on no human being does time tell so hardly as on the Indian woman—and the soft , beautiful winning companion of the red man ' s youth becomes the coarse , haggard , hideous hag Avitli whom his latter years must be spent . Certainly , Indian customs permit his taking to himself a second helpmate ; butwith her other

, charms , the squaw loses her low sweet voice , and the loud harsh tones of the aged virago ring through the ivigwam in ceaseless vituperation . of her husband and rival . Djiwzi'd we passed through the wigwam city , glancinE