Masonic Notes And Queries.

top or hd . The coffin lies upon two Hack painted stools , and stands before a bed—the " grotto-room " being used as a sleeping apartment . In the same room , in a shell-covered frame , was the following curious notice written in a neat ornamental style : —

" This room was done by my own hand ; The shells I got from many a strand ; For all the labour that you see , Seven white shillings was raj fee . The outside work , Across the Bridge , both rich and good , a gable nice ; " " was seven shillings for such a job for each rood . £ 2 the price . The work I ' m sure was almost lost , When , as above , was all the cost .

Austruther Wester , 1836 . ALEX . BACTHLOK , slater . " A photographic portrait of " Bacthlor" exhibited the happy countenance of a man of about threescore and ten , with a fur cap upon his head . He had been twice at the hymeneal altar ; and the strangely ornamented coffin of his own workmanship was " shown

off " by his second wife , to whom he had been married only a few weeks before the time of my visit . "Whether "Bacthlor " is still alive I am not aware ; hut , as above seen , he was a slater by trade , and he contrived to eke out a living by ornamenting houses in the way above noticedof which there were several

, examples both in Easter and Wester Austruther . Although the idea of having one ' s coffin made during life is not uncommon , I have never before heard of it being made for public exhibition . —A . J .

VISITATION OE LONDON LODGES . In Anderson ' s " Book of Constitutions " one ofthe old regulations sets forth the duty of the Grand Master , or his Deputy , to visit all the London lodges annually . As the number now precludes the idea of such a duty being carried outwould it not be possible

, to appoint two Grand Visitors , who should undertake this between them and report on their general state , so as to bring the whole more immediately under the supervision of the Grand Master ?—YIATOE .

BEADING . SOCIETIES . "What Avere the Masonic Beading Societies we so frequently hear of during the last century ?—P . A . — [ Where are they so frequently mentioned ? "We know of none except those inaugurated under the German Union , of Avhich traces may be seen in Professor Bobison ' s " Proofs of a Conspiracy , " under the headings "Illuminati " and " German "Dmon . " ]

THE GOLDEN ELEECE , BT BEO . E . WEBBEE , 33 ° . In the E . A . degree . the candidate is presented with a lamb-skin , which he is told " is more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Soman Fagle—more honourable than the Star and Garter , Sfe . " I have visited many lodges in various parts of the United States and have

seen the degrees conferred several times , but never yet heard any explanation given of these so pompously oft-repeated words . Consequently the initiate is left to his own imagination or industry to find out what it all means . HaA'ing often out of curiosity asked Masters and Past Masters what the Golden Fleece was , and always with the one answer , " I don't know , " I thought the little I might be able to say on the subject

would stimulate other brethren , who are well read m the classics , to enlig hten us more fully on the subject . From mythology we learn that there are a great many legends connected Avith it . One of them is related thus : — Athamas was directed by the Oracle of Delphi to sacrifice his sonwhich he was about to put into

exe-, cution , AA'hen Nephele snatched away his son and daughter , and gave them a golden-fleeced ram , which Mercury had given her , which ram carried them through the air over sea and land . The ram w as afterwards sacrificed to Jupiter , who gave the fleece to iEtes , who nailed it to an oak in the grove of Mans .

This is the legend as related by Appollodorus . But the Order of the Golden Fleece is one of the most honourable of the Orders of Chivalry existing in Europe , being second only to the British Order of the Garter . It is conferred in Spain and Austria . It was instituted on the 10 th of January , 1429 at

, Bruges , in Flanders , by Philip , the Good , Duke of Burgundy and Brabant , that being the day of his marriage with his third wife , Isabella of Portugal . It was founded in honour of the Holy Virgin and Saint Andrew , for the purpose of strengthening the Catholic Church , religion , virtue , and good manners .

The cause of its institution is differently related , but it appears most probable that , having determined to establish an Order of Knighthood , Philip chose for the badge the staple material ofthe country , which was the Fleece . And this emblem was the more agreeable from its connection Avith mythology , when the Argonautic Expedition was undertaken to obtain

it under the guidance of Jason , the one-sandled adventurer . "When the Order ivas established , the Grand Mastership was inalienably attached to the Earldom of Flanders , the birth-place and seat of European commerce . The second festival of the Order Avas held on Nov . 20 , 1431 . The Statutes then

proA'ided that if the male line of the House of Burgundy should become extinct , the husband of the daughter ancl heiress of the last sovereign should be the chief of the Order ; and in this way it passed to the House of Austria , by the marriage of the only daughter of the Grand Master to Maximilian , Archduke of Austria , and afterwards Emperor of Germany . The Order was re-established hy the Emperor

Charles , at Vienna , in 1713 , and Philip the Fifth , in Spain , in 1721 , both monarchs claiming the Grand Mastership , since which time it has been conferred in both countries upon persons distinguished for their public services . So honourable is the Order of the Golden Fleece ,

that its Knights rank above all persons but Princes of blood , are exempt from all taxes , and are permitted to set covered in the presence of the king , ivith other privileges . Ali Knignts of the Order must be Eoman Catholics , and it can be conferred on a Protestant only by

a dispensation from the Pope . The badge ofthe Order is a Golden Fleece or Lamb with a gold flint stone enamelled blue , on which is engraved the motto ofthe Order . The collar ofthe Order is composed of double steels , interwoven with flint stones , emitting sparks of fire , enamelled in their proper colours , at the ends of which hangs the Golden Fleece . On days of ceremony the knights wear a splendid costume : —A robe of red velvet , lined Avith white silk , and a long purple