Knights Errant.

with that courtesy and hospitality which have ever distinguished the English Craft , and which is still to be found in Masonic circles , even in these degenerate days when Knight-Errantry is somewhat at a discount .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries .

« - > If any brother has copies of either of the " Constitutions of A . D . 1776 , 178 4 ( 4 to ) , " or " 186 3 ( Svo ) , Grand Lodge of England , " I shall be glad to hear from him , and will

oe giaa to purcnase tnem or exchange . I have the editions of A . D . 1723 , 1738 , 1756 , 1767 , 1769 , 1815 , 1 S 27 , 1841 , 1847 , 18 SI , 1855 , 1861 , and 1867 , and only want copies of the above to render my set complete . W . J . HUGHAN .

In your number for January 21 st Bro . Carpenter enquires the origin of the word " cowan . " May I humbly venture to

suggest its connection with , and probable origin in , the Hebrew word " cowan , " literally , " a priest . " E . J . WALFORD .

THE FATHER OF THE STEAM ENGINE AND THE GLASGOW INCORPORATION OF HAMMERMEN . " James Watt , on attempting to set up as an instrument-maker in Glasgow , was prevented doing so by the then privileged

Incorporation of Hammermen , as not being free of the Craft . Attempts were next made for obtaining their leave for a very small place wherein to make his experiments , but this was peremptorily refused .

The University , however , 111 his difficulty , came to his rescue , and granted him a room within the precincts of the College , which was free of the incubusof all guilds . W . P . B .

THE WARDENS' CHAIRS . At page 58 I perceive some remarks upon this subject , and without saying anything about tlie right of the W . M . in the matter , I might be allowed to view thc

question as one of Masonic courtesy and good feeling . In that case , I think the P . M . ' s might rest satisfied with their privileges in the cast ; and in thc case of absent Wardens , their chairs might be filled by

Past Wardens , or if none such are present , then the office-bearers under that rank might be allowed to officiate pro tem ., which

would give encouragement to all . Of course , in doing so , I do it on the understanding that the various brethren arc able to discharge the duties . \ V . P . B .

THE CHURCH OF SANTA SOPHIA . The following extract may be found interesting to our readers who arc members ofthe Order of thc Red Cross of Rome and Constantine : —

When Constantine dedicated his great city to Christ , he thought it right to erect in it a suitable edifice for Christian worship on a scale of magnificence commensurate with his capital ; he therefore built one of the first public temples to

the new faith that had been permitted since tlie destruction of Christian churches and the extirpation of their congregations by the decree of Dioclesian , and lie dedicated it to the 'Ayla

o-oi /) ia , "The Holy and Eternal Wisdom of God " as manifested in His blessed Son . During the discordant schisms which unhappily rent the Christian church , this splendid structure was reduced to a state of ruin , and it was reserved

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

for the Emperor Justinian to re-edify it . He had the old foundations cleared away , and purchased at a considerable expense a larger area on which to erect it . To obtain funds for the purpose he suspended the pensionshe had granted to learned men , and melted down the silver statue of

Theodosms the Great , which weighed 7400 lbs . Ten thousand men were employed , whose exertions were stimulated by encouragements and rewards . The emperor himself appeared amongst them , and paid them every night for the work they had executed during the day . He was seen divested

of his imperial robes , in a simple tunic of linen , examining their progress , and applauding and conferring gifts on the most expert and industrious artisans . In five years and eleven months the vast building was completed , and when he had thus accomplished his splendid undertaking ,

he exclaimed with exultation , "I have conquered thee , O Solomon ! " The city was at that time so subject to earthquakes that private houses were generally constructed of wood to obviate their destructive effects . This magnificent work had scarcely been completed , when it was

shattered by one of those rude and frequent shocks ; but the indefatigable emperor again repaired the shaken ruins . From some unknown physical cause the violent concussions ceased to shake the place , so that slight and scarcely perceptible shocks occur only at intervals of many years ;

and the church of Santa Sophia is now as it was left by the last re-edification of Justinian . When the Turks entered the city , they rushed to this building to massacre or make slaves of all who took refuge there they then proceeded to demolish it , as the most eminent place of

mtidel worship . In this critical moment the sultan entered , and arrested the destruction just as it had commenced . He announced that he gave to his soldiers the plunder of spoil and captives , but the public edifices he reserved to himself . He at once conceived the idea of

converting this magnificent Christian church into a Mohammedan mosque and as he had transferred the government of the Osmanli to the most splendid capital , so the worship of Islam should be celebrated in the most splendid edifice in the world . In order to accommodate the interior

to the new rites , the effigies and pictures which covered the walls were erased , and all trace of such representations was effaced by a simple and uniform colouring ; the arms of the cross were , with little violence or alteration , bent up into the form of a crescent ; and to silence the sound of

a bell—so revolting to the followers of the Prophet—he caused a minaret to be erected at one of the angles , from the summit of which the faithful could be invited to prayer by the sound of the human voice , and having thus purified it from what he believed to be superstitious and

idolatrous emblems , he sat down cross-legged in the sanctuary , and caused himself to be shaved there . He then ordered the Koran to be read in place of the Bible , offered up his prayers , and finally suspended the curtain that had once closed

the door of the temple of Mecca . He made no further alteration in the Christian church , and it remains as it was left by Justinian , unchanged for 1300 years , the most perfect and splendid monument of the arts of the Lower Empire .

The general model of a Christian church was that of a cross—the stem represented by the nave , the cross by tlie transepts , and the upper part by the choir—but from the inequality of the parts , the western churches laboured under a disproportion from which the eastern were exempt .

The arms of the Greek cross are all of equal length , and Santa Sophia is built on its model ; it has therefore a symmetry which the Latin churches have not , though founded on the same symbol . The ground-plan is that of a cross enclosed in a square whose sides measure 243 feet ,

but including the portico its length is 26 9 feet . Over the centre of the cross rises the dome . This dome is called " aerial , " because it is so constructed that its height is only one-sixth of of its diameter , and its curve so fiat that its

convexity seems to correspond witli that of the sky , and be a portion o ( the great firmament let down and suspended , as the Greeks say , by a chain . To effect this it is built of materials of the least possible gravity—pumice-stonespecifically lighter

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

than the water on which it floats , and bricks from Rhodes five times less weighty than those of ordinary burnt clay . The vast dome , thus reduced in weight , is further secured by the pillars on which it rests . These are ponderous piles of freestone , made of blocks hewn into cubes and

triangles , united by hugh cramps of iron . It is partly by this judicious distribution of its materials that the vast edifice has stood so long unshaken by those shocks of earthquake which have prostrated so many other buildings in the same period . The mosque is entered by a

portico 12 yards in breadth , this communicates with another by nine gates with marble arches , closed by valves of rich bronze cast into high relief- this opens into another parallel to it . These vestibules formed what is called the narthex or pronaos of the Greek Christian church .

Here stood the font where catechumens were baptized , and penitents were placed before they presumed , or were deemed worthy to enter the naos or body of the sacred edifice . From hence they passed into the interior by five doors of plain bronze . The first object that strikes one

on entering the body of the edifice , is the vast aerial dome , rising to the height of 1 S 0 feet above the flooring , reposing on four massive arches forming the segments of semi-domes , and supported by others still less . The dome is perforated by 26 windows , and a multitude of

others appear in the perspective . On each side are colonnades supporting galleries , one of which was reserved for the Emperor and called the Gallery of Constantine . Round the base of the dome runs another gallery at a great elevation . It is splendidly illuminated during the evenings

of the Ramazan and other Turkish festivals , and produces a magnificent effect . Different parts of the edifice are supported by 104 pillars , amongst which are eight of porphyry removed by Constantine from the Temp le of the Sun at Rome , and six of green jasper from the Temple

of Diana at Ephesus . The sun was the tutelary deity of the emperor while he continued a heathen ; when he adopted a better he removed those ornaments of the temples both of Apollo and Diana to enrich the temple of Christ . The walls and domes are encrusted with mosaic in

various forms and devices . They have been nearly obliterated by the Turks though there yet remain in the four angles under the central dome great winged seraphims , whose faces are mutilated because they represented the human countenance . The rest are covered over with

Arabic inscriptions from the Koran , including the 104 attributes of Allah , which every Turk is bound to repeat over in his daily prayers . The mosaic of the dome is constantly falling from its cement , and is found to consist of small cubes about the size of playing dice , of various colored

glass , which the imaums collect and sell to the Franks , who have them formed and set in crosses , and thus commemorate that faith for which the mosque was originally built . Passing under the great dome , and opposite the vestibule , is the semi-dome which forms the termination of the

temple . Here was the high altar of the Christian church ; behind it the sanctuary , separated by a screen from the body of the edifice . This sacred place is now the Mehrabu where the Koran is deposited . Thc exterior of this interesting edifice is singularly heavy , and , as a celebrated French

traveller says , fiirieiisement lourde en dehors . It exhibits an irregular mass of cupolas , halfdomes , shelving roofs , and stunted minarets , one of which , more mean than the rest , is the identical one erected by Mahomet to convert the church into a mosque . liven the great dome , so

celebrated for its architectural beauty , and which the Turks have never yet been able to imitate , looks low and flat when viewed on the outside , and produces none of that aerial effect , in comparison with its interna ! structure . The edifice has at length begun to exhibit symptoms of decay . About six years ago , after a continued

storm of wind and rain , one of the smaller domes fell into the church . On clearing away the surface of rubbish , the floor was found covered over with glittering cubes which had formed the ceiling , and in such abundance that every one was supplied with as much as he chose to take for a trifling gratuity . A . A . P