Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

country . The northern bank is termed the Arden , or the Avoodland . The heights of Shuekburgh , Napton , Burton , ancl Brailes alone break the monotony of the plain of the Feldon , which rises in successive undulating billoAVS to Hodnell , Gaydon , and WeEesbourne , and sinks to the foot of the Edge hUls , on the Oxfordshire boundary , " And further on , in the opening of his chapter on " The Heiress of Canonbury , " he tells us : — " There is no spot so difficult to find , and no place better Avorth seeing in the count y

of Warwick , than the old moated mansion of Compton Winyatos , " Avhich " is built in a recess or comb of the Edge hills , about equal distances from the villages of Tysoe and Brailes , Avhose handsome churches are the pride of the country side ; indeed the church of BraEes , desolate as it UOAV appears , is known as the cathedral of the Feldon . " One cannot help wishing that Mr . Burgess had favoured us Avith a chapter on each of those fine old churches . In my various rambles in the Midland Counties , I have missed

visiting both of them . BraEes is a place Avith a . history of its OAvn . Before the Conquest , it was one of the possessions of EdAvin , Earl of Mercia ; ancl afterwards , including the two hamlets of Chelmscott ancl Winderton , it yielded , to William the Conqueror , the then respectable sum of fifty-five pounds a year , and twenty horse-loads of salt . For four hundred years it Avas the property of my remote " antecessors , " the old Earls of Warwick , who , among other privileges , claimed that of having a gaEoAvs there , Avhich I am afraid Avas too often used Avhen milder measures might have better served all useful purposes . The church , dedicated to St . George , is 164 feet in length , and 58 feet broad , Avith a noble toAver , 120 feet high , in the Perpendicular Style ; and though the

church itself has suffered fearfully from the profanations of ignorant churchwardens in the dark ages of church architecture , it yet contains many good specimens of the Early and Later Decorated , as well as the Perpendicular ; ancl I am glad to learn , from the Vicar that , this Avorthy Avorkmanship of our ancient operative brethren is to ho thoroughly repaired ancl—Avhere absolutely necessary—restored . I feel certain that the architect ( Mr . W . Smith , of 10 , John Street , Adelphi , W . C ) , Avhose name is

wellknown in the Isle-of-Ely , Lincolnshire , ancl Leicestershire , AVEI see that none of those ill-adapted alterations are made which so often cause good antiquaries to regret the socalled " restoration" of ancient churches . £ 2 , 700 have been already received or promised ; liberal subscriptions having been contributed by the late Marquis of Northampton , the Bishop of Worcester , the Archdeacon , the Rural Dean , Mr . and Mrs . Sheldon , and the spirited . Vicar and his good lady ; Avhilst upAvards of one hundred ancl

fifty clergymen have shown their interest in the Avork by donations varying from . £ 50 to £ 1 . It is aAVorthy undertaking , in which every Freemason ought to take an ardent interest ; and , as at least £ 1000 moreAvill be required to complete the arduous undertaking , I specially commend it to the consideration of the Craft in general , and of those in particular AVIIO ( like myself ) whilst most highly prizing the fine symbolic teaching of our Speculative Masonry , have a Avarni reverence for the skilled workmanship of our old operative brethren , Avho , though dead , still speak to us in their matchless Avorks . And surely a Freemason of the nineteenth century ought to be able to exclaim Avith the Puritan MEton of the seventeenth : —

" But let my due feet never fail To walk the studious cloister ' s pale , And love the high embowed roof , AVith antic pillars massy proof , And storied windows richly dight , Casting a dim religious light . There let the pealing organ blow , To the full-voiced choir below

, In service high , and anthems clear , As may with sweetness , through mine ear , Dissolve me into ecstasies , And bring all Heaven before mine eyes . " Rose Cottage , Stokesley . COPIES of the Christmas Number of the MASONIC MAGAZINE are

still on Sale at the Office , 198 , Fleet Street , E . C . Price Is , Post Free , is . Id .