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Masonic Notes And Queries.
I am trusting to memory , —a draft of a warrant for a lodge of the " Knights of the Holy Tabernacle of St . John of Jerusalem " is extant yet among the papers of the York Lodge . It is still full of interlineations and corrections , as prepared for being transcribed . But such a fact disposes of the 1721 York theory , which I really wonder Bro . Yarker atjain propounds . It is altorrcthci - unhistorical . 2 . I can
find no trace of any thc least connection between thc Rite of Memphis and the "Rite Primitif" of Narbonnc , the Philaletes , and Alartincz Pasqualis , or Paschalis , and his " Elus Coeen's . " The Rite Primitif of Narbonnc seems to have been founded in 17 S 0 by a certain " Chcvalier Pen , " and to have had a mystical religious tendency , as in its grade , — " The Fathers Rose Croix of the Grand Rosary . " But it existed for a verv few years . The
Philaletes issued from the lodge "Les Amis Reunis " in 1771 , when some very learned and enthusiastic Masons formed part of , and is probably in the main thc creaton of , "Savalette de Langes . " It vvas a mixture of Alartinism and Swedenborgianism , and though it had a " concordat" with the Rite of Narbonnc for the " same ends , " it had not the same teaching , as far as we know .
Cagliostro got mixed up with it later , but though it influenced greatly the Convent of Paris , I ^ S J , it thenceforward disappears . Paschalis , who was a Portuguese , born in 1715 . was no doubt alearned Hebrew and metaphysician , & c , seems also mixed up with the " Pierre Philosophalc . " I may mention that early in the eighteen century " Les Archives Me Ia Bastille , " now publishincr , mention
frequently these "Chercheurs , " who were arrested men and women . Paschalis seems to have based his grade on the Jewish Cabala , but there seems in it nothing akin to the Order of Alemphis . All tha * we really know of the Order of Alemphis is based on the evidence of Marconis Is he trustworthy ? I express no opinion thereancnt , though some writers openly contradict his statements , and some
even doubt the " Montauban story , " and limit the date to 'SSO- ' . 3 . I do not quite comprehend Bro . Yarker's statement in How ' s Manual . I had understood that about 1 SG 1 Alarconis gave a charter to Bro . Seymour , which was afterwards vised by Marshal Magnan , and I have seen that alleged patent set out somewhere as dated Paris , iSfii . But now Bro . Yarker says that Alarconis the younger ,
at New York , in 1 S 57 , inaugurated the Rite personally , with Illustrious Bro . David AlcClellan ns Grand Master , and that afterwards , in 1 SG 2 , Marshal Alagnan vised the patent , and Bro . Seymour was appointed Grand Alaster General . Which of these statements is correct and authoritative ? For Bro . Yarker will see there is a great difference between them . I write merely as a " student , " and for information and verification .
MASONIC STUDENT
BRO . H . G . SEYAIOUR . Is this brother , and so often mentioned by Bro . Yarker , the same person about whom so much vvas said some years back in the Ancient and Accepted Rite in America ? Is he legally now , in consequence of certain judiciary proceedings in the Accepted and Ancient Rite , America , any longer a legal member of thc Rite ? ALS .
Alay I ask , too , how thc Cerneau Council , to which Bro . Yarker alludes in How ' s Manual , vvas formed ? Is it not altogether an unauthorized body" The old Cerneau Council surely amalgamated with others to make one Grand Council for the Northern Jurisdiction . How can a few members of a body reinstate a "defunct body ? " I do not say that it might not be done under certain circumstances , but in this case is it not altogether a personal question ?
M . S
I-IOTCiiiN'sos , WILLIAM , may bc fairly termed the father of Alasonic Symbolism . No one writer has endeavoured more than he did to give nn elevating , and classical , and phillosophical tendency to all our Alasonic researches and disquisitions . His is a name which ought always to bc held in reverential regard by all Anglo-Saxon Freemasons . He was born at Barnard Castle , Durham , in 1732 , and died in 1 S 14 . He vvas a solicitor by profession , but an
antiquary and arch .-eologtst by taste—and conviction . He wrote that well-known work * ' 'The History ancl Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham , " and several other works , being a zealous member of the Antiqparian Society . His "Spirit of Masonry , " -well-known work , was first publn ' 775 > with the especial sanction of Grancl Lodge , and nsecond edition vvas issued in 1705 . Dr . Oliver edited one
of the many later editions . Hutchinson hacl his own peculiar theories , which a later and sounder criticism and a truer exegesis have compelled Alasonic students to discard . His etymology and his symbolism are both somewhat strained , though there will be always a large school in Anglo-Saxon Ercemasonry whic will adhere to the chriftian symdathtep ; and sentiments of Hutchinson . But though We cannot fully atrreewith all his views , we can admire trnlv
the general groundwork of his admirable work , whic will remain a lasting manument , both to his learning and ingenuity , a fitting epitaph , so to say , on the long career of a man and a Mason , whose head and heart went in unison , whose life vvas blameless , and whose memory is still fondly regarded by Fremafons , wherever the English language is spoken , ancl as long as Freemasonry itself endures . — Kenning ' s Masonic Cyclopedia .
The controversy known to Chinese scholars as the " term question " still continues . The dispute is as to the proper word to be employed in rendering the word God into the language of the Celestial Empire . A person using 'ne pseudonym " Inquirer" has recently charged Professor James Lcn ;< re with unfaithfulness as a translator because in
his versions from the Chinese in " The Sacred Books of tne hast * he uses the word God as an equivalent for atiang-ti . The dispute has been whether that phrase , winch has a more personal significance , or Tien , which is "Equivalent to heaven , should be used as the name of the
1 I ? ' -V •"ofessor Legge has vindicated his position in a letter addressed to Professor Max Miiller . Messrs . Whittaker and Co . will publish immevl i-V ^ their Hand y Volume Series - ' A Dictionary of J-nghsh Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases . " The collection will embrace upwards of iStX ) of the most frequently used proverbs in the language .
Reviews.
Reviews .
ILLUSTRATED NEWS . Christmas Number . The Christmas number of thc Illustrated London News comes before us in amicable and animated conflict with its great rival . Its engravings are all interesting and effective—such as " The Daughter of the House , " " In Wonderland , " "First Steps , " "The Careless Nurse , " "The Vicar ' s Daughter , " "Catarina , " and tlie coloured
illustrations of " A Juvenile Fancy Dress Ball . " Mrs . J . H . Riddel ! , Miss Betham Edwards , Mr . Francillon , and Miss Katharine Alacquoid contribute the " prose selections , " while the " poetic offerings" are from the pens of Mr . Clement Scott , Air . G . R . Sims , Air . Byron VVebber , and Air . Ashley Terry . The Christmas number is a very attractive contribution to our Christmas literature .
THE POAIPADOUR ALBUAL James AlacAIichael , ¦ 42 , South Audlcy-street , Grosvenor-square , W . Air . AlacAIichael , who is well-know for his Christmas cards , and numerous requisites of tabular and stationery •cstheticism , comes before us with his " Nevv Album of Beauty , " which he suggests is a " fitting Christmas present" for many members of "Society" at the present
day . And , certainly , it is a very pleasant and elegant Christmas " etrenne . " Some of us object to the sale of photographs of "fair faces , " but we may bear in mind that wc are only doing what our ancestors did , though in a different manner and degree . They had their " Book of Beauty ^ . ' we have our ' •Album of Beauty , " and where is the real difference ? We cannot sec it ; neither do vve
discern anything to blame , but much to commend , in thc present arrangements . We have now before us an album , and are struck with the pretty faces we see and much admire . We find the Duchess of Westminster and the Alarchioncss of Ormonde , the Countess of Dudley , and Lady Amelia Ward , the Countess of Clarendon , and Lord Hyde . The three charming daughters of Lady Feversham ,
thc Ladies Hermionc , Helen , and Agathea Duncombe , the Duchess of Montrose , Lady Ribblesdale , Lady Forbes , Viscountess Grimston , Hon . Airs . Erskine , and Lady Garvagh . There is a very striking one of the Countess of Lonsdale , Lady Carrington , Lady Beatrice Herbert , Lady Alusgrave , Aliss Graham , Miss Pullen , and Miss Amy Pullen . Wc also are able to keep before us those pleasant
" visions" which come before us , every now and then , of Mrs . Langtry , Airs . Cornwallis West , Mrs . Wheeler , Mrs . Arthur Beave , Airs . Hungerford , and Airs . Alaxse . To these also may bc added the various members of our own Royal Family , commencing with that charming Princess , always so cherished by Freemasons , H . R . H . the Princess
of Wales , and her two daughters . We , therefore , think that Air . AlacAIichaelJis to be ( thanked , as a'benefactor to society , for an idea so artistic in itself , and so full of pleasure to those who like to believe that " a face of beauty is a joy for ever , " at 'least to memory , to sympathy , and to ideality .
THE FREEAJASONS' AUNUAL , by Bro . J EREMIAH How . John Hogg , Patcrnostcr-row . VVe are among those old fashioned Alasons who cannot , and do not , approve of the "Freemasons' Manual " in its particular idea and outcome . VVe think that much which appears in it belongs entirely to the region of lodge and chapter . We may be altogether wrong , butsuch isouropinion , andas
we have still " liberty of prophesying " Masonically , vve say so openly . But the work has reached a third edition , andcomes before us , no doubt , admirably printed , and carefully edited . It is in many respects , too , a very interesting work , and the the authcrhas got together a great deal of information , which some may like to have as a "bird ' s eye view of Alasonry , symbolical and High Grade . " As we have perused its ample
pages ( 463 ) , of clearly printed mattcr . we have found , as might be expected , some little errors which deserve noting . 1 . VVe cannot agree with the now very questionable theory of Ramsay and the High Grades . Ramsay is represented as the "Fautor" of High Grade Masonry , with a Jacobite intent . This seems to us a most doubtful fact . There is , as far as vve are aware , no proof of it , except commonly
received and constanly repeated assertion . If Ramsay did any morethan set up his " Rite de . Bouillon , " ( if even he did that ) , it is as much as he did . There is no trace of Ramsay in Alasonry after 173 C , and his famous oration vvas delivered in 173 G , not in 1740 . It has been said that Dermott obtained from Ramsay his name "Royal Arch , " as the translation and equivalent of " Arche Royale . " It is hist
possible , and that fact , probably , explains the great difference between the " working" of the "Ancients" and the " Aloderns " in that respect . Dunkcrley's workingvvas identical in part , though not fully , with our present working , which was re-arranged in 1 S 13 , or thereabouts , when the " antient working , " which , no doubt , in some respects is identical with a foreign Grade , was entirely n-iven up , and
Dunkerley ' s old "working" maintained , and developed , and completed . We , therefore , greatly doubt Ramsay's influences on English Alasonry , or even the High Grades . A High Grade of some kind vvas known in London in 1721 , if it be not the " Royal Arch , " ( though we think clearly not ) , as it has been suggested , to which the author of " Long- Livers" alluded . Neither can we aorec to the
statement that in Great Britain the use of " Marks" was universal . It vvas so in Scotland , but not in England or Ireland . The use of " Alarks" in English lodges , ( in our so far sparse and unsatisfactory history ofthe past ) , is comparatively late ; certainly not before the end of the eighteenth century , with one exception at Alnwick , which is near Scotland , and where we find it in 1704 . The Enerlish
use is undoubtedly so far as is yet known , practically late eighteenth century . There are many other points to which we might allude , but they perhaps are better fitted for our " Notes and Queries . " With these allowable-reservations and many more , indeed , vve have read with interest the third edition of the " Freemasons' Afanual by Bro . How as published by Bro . Hogg .
WARD AND LOCK'S UNIVERSAL INSTRUCTOR . Cd . monthly . Ward and Lock , Salisbury-square , London . The first two numbers of this work are now before the public , and we scarcely know which to admire most , the enterprise of the publishers in preparing such an exhaustive programme of instruction at such a small cost , or the way in which the various writers have succeeded in carrying out that programme so far . No branch of study appears to be
Reviews.
overlooked , and the student , whether desirous of acquiring general knowledge or devoting himself to special subjects , will find all his wants in these crowded pages .
THE BRITISH AND COLONIAL PRINTER AND STATIONER . 5 , Ludgate Circus Buildings , London . The winter number of this publication has just been sent us , and vve know of no other production which show so well the advances that have been made in the Typographical Art during the past few years . The
"display " is perfectly unique , and will be of great use to those printers who desire to advance with the times , and present their work as a thing of beauty as well as utility . The contents , too , seem worthy of the letterpress . _ Notes upon trade concerning this country and the colonies , and other matters interesting to printers and stationers , are also dealt with .
Literary, Art, And Antiquarian Notes.
Literary , Art , and Antiquarian Notes .
A notice of the life-work of the late Sir Benjamin Brodie appears in Nature , signed "H . E . R ., " presumably from the pen of Professor Roscoe . The Paris Solon is being- seriously reformed at last , and in addition to the decision not to admit more than 2500 pictures , it has been further determined to abolish the privileges of certain artists whose works were exempt from examination , and entitled to a place on the walls , whatever
their merits . Artists may now send any number of pictures ; while works of industrial art—including porcelain , goldsmiths' productions , bronze-work , & c . —will also be admitted to the Exhibition . The plan of a triennial Salon has been abandoned in favour of a decennial Exhibition , the first of which will take place in 1 SS 4 . Wc are pleased to note that Bro . R . A . Douglas Lithgoiv , LL . D ., F . R . S . L ., & c , is engaged in editing an
edition of the poetical works of John Critchlcy Prince . Prince belongs to the class of artizan poets , but the perfect melody of his verse and its intellectual quality show no sign of "class , " although he has contributed as much as most men to the literature of labour . The biography which Bro . Litbgow will add to this edition will give lor the
first time in detail particulars of Prince ' s life , which will unfold in all its simplicity the history of a man whose career was a continual struggle against the direst poverty and temptation , and whose failures are full of pathetic interest . "The work is to bc published , by subscription , by Abel Heywood and Son , Manchester .
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF G REAT BRITAIN . — The following are the arrangements for the Friday evening meetings before Easter , 1 SS 1 : —January 2 r , Mr . Warren De La Rue , D . C . L ., F . R . S ., Sec . R . I ., "The Phenomena of the Electric Discharge with 14 , 000 Chloride of Silver Cells ; " January 2 S , Dr . Andrew Wilson , F . R . S . E ., "The Origin of Colonial Organisms ; " February 4 , Dr . Arthur Schuster , F . R . S ., "The Teachings of Alodern Spectroscopy ; " February 11 , Air . Roberts . Ball , LL . D ., F . R . S ., "The Distances of the Stars ; " February iS , Sir John
Lubbock , M . P ., D . C . L ., F . R . S ., M . R . I ., " Fruits and Seeds ; " February 25 , Dr . J . S . Burdon-Sanderson , LL . D ., F . R . S ., "Excitability in Plants and Animals ;" Alarch 4 , Sir William Thomson , LL . D ., F . R . S ., " Elasticity viewed as Possibly a Mode of Motion ; " March 11 , uncertain ; March iS , W . H . Stone , M . D ., "Afusical Pitch and its Determination ; " Alarch 25 , Mr . Alexander Buchan , ALA ., F . R . S . E ., Sec . Met . Soc . Scot ., "The Weather and
Health of London ; " April 1 , uncertain ; Aprils , Professor Tyndall , D . C . L ., F . R . S ., M . R . I . The Friday arrangements depend in great measure on the free kindness of eminent men , whose time is subject to the sudden claims of public or professional duty . They arc therefore liable to change . The discourse for each Friday will bc announced in Tlie Times of the Tuesday previous . The doors will be open at 8 o'clock ; the discourse will begin at 9 o ' clock . Professors Tyndall and Dewar will lecture after Easter .
THE NATIONAL GALLERY . —Mr . Burton ' s tenure of office in thc National Gallery has again been signalised by the acquisition of a famous and beautiful picture , one of those which every student would covet tor the English collection . It is the large Leonardo da Vinci known as "La Vierge aux Rochers , " which was lent by the late possessor , the Earl of Suffolk , to the Royal Academicians in 1 S 70 , when it vvas No . 6 , and hung in gallery No 1 , at
, Burlington-house . Itiswell known that there are two versions of the design—that which is now in the National Gallery waiting to take a p lace on a wall in one of the public rooms , and that other which is in the Long Gallery of the Louvre , and belonged to Francis I . Desnoycrs engraved and Bodmcr lithographed the latter version , and Desnoyer's print is a masterpiece . It has been much disputed which is the superior picture . There is a preponderance of opinion
in favour of the former , a judgment in which , having carefully examined both , we are able to concur . To take the highest element of the painting , the faces are better in the work from Charlton Park , and the drawing throughout is better . Dr . Waagen , however , vvas probably right in recognising the hand of a pupil in much of the background , and the picture has gained nothing from a flood of brown varnish , which might , wc suppose , be safely removed .
Lomazzo , who , within 70 years of Leonardo ' s death , saw the painting in the Capella della Concezione in the Church of St . Francesco at Milan , described it as the work of Da Vinci , and by the name of the "Concezione . " In 1796 Air . Gavin Hamilton bought it out of the chapel for thirty ducats , and some time afterwards sold it to the Earl of Suffolk for a much larger sum . VVe believe the nation has paid jeCoooo—a price which is decidedly below the value of
this important work . It vvas at the British Institution in 1 S 51 , and again in 1856 . In Air . Holford ' s collection is a head of the Virgin painted in brown , and so closely resembling that in this picture as to justify the idea that it is the study for the principal portion . The head was No . 144 of the Manchester Art Treasures . " La Vierge aux Rochers " is supposed to have been executed in 14 S 3 . Two anuels at
the side are represented in the Melzi Collection at Milan . There are several copies in public museums—e . g ., at Nantes . There are drawings in the gallery at Turin and at Windsor Castle which evidently refer to this picture , and exhibit some variations in the design . Nagler , " Kunstler-Lexicon , " xx . 329 , says that other drawings of this order , executed in black chalk on blue paper , are at Chatsworth . Atheweum .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Notes And Queries.
I am trusting to memory , —a draft of a warrant for a lodge of the " Knights of the Holy Tabernacle of St . John of Jerusalem " is extant yet among the papers of the York Lodge . It is still full of interlineations and corrections , as prepared for being transcribed . But such a fact disposes of the 1721 York theory , which I really wonder Bro . Yarker atjain propounds . It is altorrcthci - unhistorical . 2 . I can
find no trace of any thc least connection between thc Rite of Memphis and the "Rite Primitif" of Narbonnc , the Philaletes , and Alartincz Pasqualis , or Paschalis , and his " Elus Coeen's . " The Rite Primitif of Narbonnc seems to have been founded in 17 S 0 by a certain " Chcvalier Pen , " and to have had a mystical religious tendency , as in its grade , — " The Fathers Rose Croix of the Grand Rosary . " But it existed for a verv few years . The
Philaletes issued from the lodge "Les Amis Reunis " in 1771 , when some very learned and enthusiastic Masons formed part of , and is probably in the main thc creaton of , "Savalette de Langes . " It vvas a mixture of Alartinism and Swedenborgianism , and though it had a " concordat" with the Rite of Narbonnc for the " same ends , " it had not the same teaching , as far as we know .
Cagliostro got mixed up with it later , but though it influenced greatly the Convent of Paris , I ^ S J , it thenceforward disappears . Paschalis , who was a Portuguese , born in 1715 . was no doubt alearned Hebrew and metaphysician , & c , seems also mixed up with the " Pierre Philosophalc . " I may mention that early in the eighteen century " Les Archives Me Ia Bastille , " now publishincr , mention
frequently these "Chercheurs , " who were arrested men and women . Paschalis seems to have based his grade on the Jewish Cabala , but there seems in it nothing akin to the Order of Alemphis . All tha * we really know of the Order of Alemphis is based on the evidence of Marconis Is he trustworthy ? I express no opinion thereancnt , though some writers openly contradict his statements , and some
even doubt the " Montauban story , " and limit the date to 'SSO- ' . 3 . I do not quite comprehend Bro . Yarker's statement in How ' s Manual . I had understood that about 1 SG 1 Alarconis gave a charter to Bro . Seymour , which was afterwards vised by Marshal Magnan , and I have seen that alleged patent set out somewhere as dated Paris , iSfii . But now Bro . Yarker says that Alarconis the younger ,
at New York , in 1 S 57 , inaugurated the Rite personally , with Illustrious Bro . David AlcClellan ns Grand Master , and that afterwards , in 1 SG 2 , Marshal Alagnan vised the patent , and Bro . Seymour was appointed Grand Alaster General . Which of these statements is correct and authoritative ? For Bro . Yarker will see there is a great difference between them . I write merely as a " student , " and for information and verification .
MASONIC STUDENT
BRO . H . G . SEYAIOUR . Is this brother , and so often mentioned by Bro . Yarker , the same person about whom so much vvas said some years back in the Ancient and Accepted Rite in America ? Is he legally now , in consequence of certain judiciary proceedings in the Accepted and Ancient Rite , America , any longer a legal member of thc Rite ? ALS .
Alay I ask , too , how thc Cerneau Council , to which Bro . Yarker alludes in How ' s Manual , vvas formed ? Is it not altogether an unauthorized body" The old Cerneau Council surely amalgamated with others to make one Grand Council for the Northern Jurisdiction . How can a few members of a body reinstate a "defunct body ? " I do not say that it might not be done under certain circumstances , but in this case is it not altogether a personal question ?
M . S
I-IOTCiiiN'sos , WILLIAM , may bc fairly termed the father of Alasonic Symbolism . No one writer has endeavoured more than he did to give nn elevating , and classical , and phillosophical tendency to all our Alasonic researches and disquisitions . His is a name which ought always to bc held in reverential regard by all Anglo-Saxon Freemasons . He was born at Barnard Castle , Durham , in 1732 , and died in 1 S 14 . He vvas a solicitor by profession , but an
antiquary and arch .-eologtst by taste—and conviction . He wrote that well-known work * ' 'The History ancl Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham , " and several other works , being a zealous member of the Antiqparian Society . His "Spirit of Masonry , " -well-known work , was first publn ' 775 > with the especial sanction of Grancl Lodge , and nsecond edition vvas issued in 1705 . Dr . Oliver edited one
of the many later editions . Hutchinson hacl his own peculiar theories , which a later and sounder criticism and a truer exegesis have compelled Alasonic students to discard . His etymology and his symbolism are both somewhat strained , though there will be always a large school in Anglo-Saxon Ercemasonry whic will adhere to the chriftian symdathtep ; and sentiments of Hutchinson . But though We cannot fully atrreewith all his views , we can admire trnlv
the general groundwork of his admirable work , whic will remain a lasting manument , both to his learning and ingenuity , a fitting epitaph , so to say , on the long career of a man and a Mason , whose head and heart went in unison , whose life vvas blameless , and whose memory is still fondly regarded by Fremafons , wherever the English language is spoken , ancl as long as Freemasonry itself endures . — Kenning ' s Masonic Cyclopedia .
The controversy known to Chinese scholars as the " term question " still continues . The dispute is as to the proper word to be employed in rendering the word God into the language of the Celestial Empire . A person using 'ne pseudonym " Inquirer" has recently charged Professor James Lcn ;< re with unfaithfulness as a translator because in
his versions from the Chinese in " The Sacred Books of tne hast * he uses the word God as an equivalent for atiang-ti . The dispute has been whether that phrase , winch has a more personal significance , or Tien , which is "Equivalent to heaven , should be used as the name of the
1 I ? ' -V •"ofessor Legge has vindicated his position in a letter addressed to Professor Max Miiller . Messrs . Whittaker and Co . will publish immevl i-V ^ their Hand y Volume Series - ' A Dictionary of J-nghsh Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases . " The collection will embrace upwards of iStX ) of the most frequently used proverbs in the language .
Reviews.
Reviews .
ILLUSTRATED NEWS . Christmas Number . The Christmas number of thc Illustrated London News comes before us in amicable and animated conflict with its great rival . Its engravings are all interesting and effective—such as " The Daughter of the House , " " In Wonderland , " "First Steps , " "The Careless Nurse , " "The Vicar ' s Daughter , " "Catarina , " and tlie coloured
illustrations of " A Juvenile Fancy Dress Ball . " Mrs . J . H . Riddel ! , Miss Betham Edwards , Mr . Francillon , and Miss Katharine Alacquoid contribute the " prose selections , " while the " poetic offerings" are from the pens of Mr . Clement Scott , Air . G . R . Sims , Air . Byron VVebber , and Air . Ashley Terry . The Christmas number is a very attractive contribution to our Christmas literature .
THE POAIPADOUR ALBUAL James AlacAIichael , ¦ 42 , South Audlcy-street , Grosvenor-square , W . Air . AlacAIichael , who is well-know for his Christmas cards , and numerous requisites of tabular and stationery •cstheticism , comes before us with his " Nevv Album of Beauty , " which he suggests is a " fitting Christmas present" for many members of "Society" at the present
day . And , certainly , it is a very pleasant and elegant Christmas " etrenne . " Some of us object to the sale of photographs of "fair faces , " but we may bear in mind that wc are only doing what our ancestors did , though in a different manner and degree . They had their " Book of Beauty ^ . ' we have our ' •Album of Beauty , " and where is the real difference ? We cannot sec it ; neither do vve
discern anything to blame , but much to commend , in thc present arrangements . We have now before us an album , and are struck with the pretty faces we see and much admire . We find the Duchess of Westminster and the Alarchioncss of Ormonde , the Countess of Dudley , and Lady Amelia Ward , the Countess of Clarendon , and Lord Hyde . The three charming daughters of Lady Feversham ,
thc Ladies Hermionc , Helen , and Agathea Duncombe , the Duchess of Montrose , Lady Ribblesdale , Lady Forbes , Viscountess Grimston , Hon . Airs . Erskine , and Lady Garvagh . There is a very striking one of the Countess of Lonsdale , Lady Carrington , Lady Beatrice Herbert , Lady Alusgrave , Aliss Graham , Miss Pullen , and Miss Amy Pullen . Wc also are able to keep before us those pleasant
" visions" which come before us , every now and then , of Mrs . Langtry , Airs . Cornwallis West , Mrs . Wheeler , Mrs . Arthur Beave , Airs . Hungerford , and Airs . Alaxse . To these also may bc added the various members of our own Royal Family , commencing with that charming Princess , always so cherished by Freemasons , H . R . H . the Princess
of Wales , and her two daughters . We , therefore , think that Air . AlacAIichaelJis to be ( thanked , as a'benefactor to society , for an idea so artistic in itself , and so full of pleasure to those who like to believe that " a face of beauty is a joy for ever , " at 'least to memory , to sympathy , and to ideality .
THE FREEAJASONS' AUNUAL , by Bro . J EREMIAH How . John Hogg , Patcrnostcr-row . VVe are among those old fashioned Alasons who cannot , and do not , approve of the "Freemasons' Manual " in its particular idea and outcome . VVe think that much which appears in it belongs entirely to the region of lodge and chapter . We may be altogether wrong , butsuch isouropinion , andas
we have still " liberty of prophesying " Masonically , vve say so openly . But the work has reached a third edition , andcomes before us , no doubt , admirably printed , and carefully edited . It is in many respects , too , a very interesting work , and the the authcrhas got together a great deal of information , which some may like to have as a "bird ' s eye view of Alasonry , symbolical and High Grade . " As we have perused its ample
pages ( 463 ) , of clearly printed mattcr . we have found , as might be expected , some little errors which deserve noting . 1 . VVe cannot agree with the now very questionable theory of Ramsay and the High Grades . Ramsay is represented as the "Fautor" of High Grade Masonry , with a Jacobite intent . This seems to us a most doubtful fact . There is , as far as vve are aware , no proof of it , except commonly
received and constanly repeated assertion . If Ramsay did any morethan set up his " Rite de . Bouillon , " ( if even he did that ) , it is as much as he did . There is no trace of Ramsay in Alasonry after 173 C , and his famous oration vvas delivered in 173 G , not in 1740 . It has been said that Dermott obtained from Ramsay his name "Royal Arch , " as the translation and equivalent of " Arche Royale . " It is hist
possible , and that fact , probably , explains the great difference between the " working" of the "Ancients" and the " Aloderns " in that respect . Dunkcrley's workingvvas identical in part , though not fully , with our present working , which was re-arranged in 1 S 13 , or thereabouts , when the " antient working , " which , no doubt , in some respects is identical with a foreign Grade , was entirely n-iven up , and
Dunkerley ' s old "working" maintained , and developed , and completed . We , therefore , greatly doubt Ramsay's influences on English Alasonry , or even the High Grades . A High Grade of some kind vvas known in London in 1721 , if it be not the " Royal Arch , " ( though we think clearly not ) , as it has been suggested , to which the author of " Long- Livers" alluded . Neither can we aorec to the
statement that in Great Britain the use of " Marks" was universal . It vvas so in Scotland , but not in England or Ireland . The use of " Alarks" in English lodges , ( in our so far sparse and unsatisfactory history ofthe past ) , is comparatively late ; certainly not before the end of the eighteenth century , with one exception at Alnwick , which is near Scotland , and where we find it in 1704 . The Enerlish
use is undoubtedly so far as is yet known , practically late eighteenth century . There are many other points to which we might allude , but they perhaps are better fitted for our " Notes and Queries . " With these allowable-reservations and many more , indeed , vve have read with interest the third edition of the " Freemasons' Afanual by Bro . How as published by Bro . Hogg .
WARD AND LOCK'S UNIVERSAL INSTRUCTOR . Cd . monthly . Ward and Lock , Salisbury-square , London . The first two numbers of this work are now before the public , and we scarcely know which to admire most , the enterprise of the publishers in preparing such an exhaustive programme of instruction at such a small cost , or the way in which the various writers have succeeded in carrying out that programme so far . No branch of study appears to be
Reviews.
overlooked , and the student , whether desirous of acquiring general knowledge or devoting himself to special subjects , will find all his wants in these crowded pages .
THE BRITISH AND COLONIAL PRINTER AND STATIONER . 5 , Ludgate Circus Buildings , London . The winter number of this publication has just been sent us , and vve know of no other production which show so well the advances that have been made in the Typographical Art during the past few years . The
"display " is perfectly unique , and will be of great use to those printers who desire to advance with the times , and present their work as a thing of beauty as well as utility . The contents , too , seem worthy of the letterpress . _ Notes upon trade concerning this country and the colonies , and other matters interesting to printers and stationers , are also dealt with .
Literary, Art, And Antiquarian Notes.
Literary , Art , and Antiquarian Notes .
A notice of the life-work of the late Sir Benjamin Brodie appears in Nature , signed "H . E . R ., " presumably from the pen of Professor Roscoe . The Paris Solon is being- seriously reformed at last , and in addition to the decision not to admit more than 2500 pictures , it has been further determined to abolish the privileges of certain artists whose works were exempt from examination , and entitled to a place on the walls , whatever
their merits . Artists may now send any number of pictures ; while works of industrial art—including porcelain , goldsmiths' productions , bronze-work , & c . —will also be admitted to the Exhibition . The plan of a triennial Salon has been abandoned in favour of a decennial Exhibition , the first of which will take place in 1 SS 4 . Wc are pleased to note that Bro . R . A . Douglas Lithgoiv , LL . D ., F . R . S . L ., & c , is engaged in editing an
edition of the poetical works of John Critchlcy Prince . Prince belongs to the class of artizan poets , but the perfect melody of his verse and its intellectual quality show no sign of "class , " although he has contributed as much as most men to the literature of labour . The biography which Bro . Litbgow will add to this edition will give lor the
first time in detail particulars of Prince ' s life , which will unfold in all its simplicity the history of a man whose career was a continual struggle against the direst poverty and temptation , and whose failures are full of pathetic interest . "The work is to bc published , by subscription , by Abel Heywood and Son , Manchester .
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF G REAT BRITAIN . — The following are the arrangements for the Friday evening meetings before Easter , 1 SS 1 : —January 2 r , Mr . Warren De La Rue , D . C . L ., F . R . S ., Sec . R . I ., "The Phenomena of the Electric Discharge with 14 , 000 Chloride of Silver Cells ; " January 2 S , Dr . Andrew Wilson , F . R . S . E ., "The Origin of Colonial Organisms ; " February 4 , Dr . Arthur Schuster , F . R . S ., "The Teachings of Alodern Spectroscopy ; " February 11 , Air . Roberts . Ball , LL . D ., F . R . S ., "The Distances of the Stars ; " February iS , Sir John
Lubbock , M . P ., D . C . L ., F . R . S ., M . R . I ., " Fruits and Seeds ; " February 25 , Dr . J . S . Burdon-Sanderson , LL . D ., F . R . S ., "Excitability in Plants and Animals ;" Alarch 4 , Sir William Thomson , LL . D ., F . R . S ., " Elasticity viewed as Possibly a Mode of Motion ; " March 11 , uncertain ; March iS , W . H . Stone , M . D ., "Afusical Pitch and its Determination ; " Alarch 25 , Mr . Alexander Buchan , ALA ., F . R . S . E ., Sec . Met . Soc . Scot ., "The Weather and
Health of London ; " April 1 , uncertain ; Aprils , Professor Tyndall , D . C . L ., F . R . S ., M . R . I . The Friday arrangements depend in great measure on the free kindness of eminent men , whose time is subject to the sudden claims of public or professional duty . They arc therefore liable to change . The discourse for each Friday will bc announced in Tlie Times of the Tuesday previous . The doors will be open at 8 o'clock ; the discourse will begin at 9 o ' clock . Professors Tyndall and Dewar will lecture after Easter .
THE NATIONAL GALLERY . —Mr . Burton ' s tenure of office in thc National Gallery has again been signalised by the acquisition of a famous and beautiful picture , one of those which every student would covet tor the English collection . It is the large Leonardo da Vinci known as "La Vierge aux Rochers , " which was lent by the late possessor , the Earl of Suffolk , to the Royal Academicians in 1 S 70 , when it vvas No . 6 , and hung in gallery No 1 , at
, Burlington-house . Itiswell known that there are two versions of the design—that which is now in the National Gallery waiting to take a p lace on a wall in one of the public rooms , and that other which is in the Long Gallery of the Louvre , and belonged to Francis I . Desnoycrs engraved and Bodmcr lithographed the latter version , and Desnoyer's print is a masterpiece . It has been much disputed which is the superior picture . There is a preponderance of opinion
in favour of the former , a judgment in which , having carefully examined both , we are able to concur . To take the highest element of the painting , the faces are better in the work from Charlton Park , and the drawing throughout is better . Dr . Waagen , however , vvas probably right in recognising the hand of a pupil in much of the background , and the picture has gained nothing from a flood of brown varnish , which might , wc suppose , be safely removed .
Lomazzo , who , within 70 years of Leonardo ' s death , saw the painting in the Capella della Concezione in the Church of St . Francesco at Milan , described it as the work of Da Vinci , and by the name of the "Concezione . " In 1796 Air . Gavin Hamilton bought it out of the chapel for thirty ducats , and some time afterwards sold it to the Earl of Suffolk for a much larger sum . VVe believe the nation has paid jeCoooo—a price which is decidedly below the value of
this important work . It vvas at the British Institution in 1 S 51 , and again in 1856 . In Air . Holford ' s collection is a head of the Virgin painted in brown , and so closely resembling that in this picture as to justify the idea that it is the study for the principal portion . The head was No . 144 of the Manchester Art Treasures . " La Vierge aux Rochers " is supposed to have been executed in 14 S 3 . Two anuels at
the side are represented in the Melzi Collection at Milan . There are several copies in public museums—e . g ., at Nantes . There are drawings in the gallery at Turin and at Windsor Castle which evidently refer to this picture , and exhibit some variations in the design . Nagler , " Kunstler-Lexicon , " xx . 329 , says that other drawings of this order , executed in black chalk on blue paper , are at Chatsworth . Atheweum .