The Butcher's Bill.

have established the fact to Avhich Ave earnestly desire to call public attention , that the usual expenditure of an English kitchen is so extraordinarily Avasteful as to afford a Avide margin for retrenchment during the existing meat famine . An English soldier ' s rations are lib . of bread and fib . of meat a day . —Pall Mall Gazette .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

ItlSTOEIOA-L ACCOTXI OF FREEMASOXltY . Having come across the following in au old number of The Mirror , dated 1 S 25 , and thinking it might be of interest to some of your readers , I send it for insertion . —& .

" ( To the Fditor of the Mirror . ) " As various surmises aud criticisms have heen formed , and illiberal attacks made upon the subject of Freemasonry , I , some time since , when Master of a respectable country lodge , compiled , and at sundry times delivered , the following . If you think proper

it should occupy a page in your highly entertaining miscellany , the perusal of it may be amusing to many of your readers , amongst Avhom is , " Tours , & c , W . 0 . " Masonry is an institution founded upon a sublime , rationaland moral princileAvith the praiseAVOrthy

, p , design of recalling to our remembrance the most important truths in the midst of the most innocent and social pleasure , and promoting , Avithout the least ostentation , or the hope of reward , the most diffusive benevolence , the most generous and extensive philanthrophy , ancl the most Avarm and affectionate brotherly

love . " The brightest titles suffer no diminution of lustre by being professors of it ; even nobility itself acquires an additional distinction by countenancing and protecting so ancient and venerable an institution . If antiquity merits our attention , where shall we find a society in the known world that has so just a claim ?

" As Masons , Ave are Avell informed from Holy Writ that the building of King Solomon ' s temple Avas a most important crisis , from Avhence we derive many mysteries of our art . This great event took place above a thousand years before the Christian era , consequently many centuries before that wise and learned

philosopher , Pythagoras , brought from the East his sublime system of truly Masonic instruction to illuminate the western world ; yet , remote as that period was , Ave date not from thence the commencement of our art , for , although we are indebted to that wise and lorious King of Israel for many of our mystic

g forms aud hieroglyphic ceremonies , yet the art itself is coeval ivith the creation of the world , when the Great and Glorious Architect of the Unh'erse , upon Masonic principles , formed from chaos this beauteous globe , and commanded that master science , geometry , to lay the rule for the planetary orbs , aud to regulate , by

its unerring laws , the motions of that stupendous system iu just proportion , rolling round the central sun . "In all civilized ages and countries Masonry has been universally admired . Men of the most exalted characters have considered it their glory to honour and protect it . It is an art , for whose dignity and protection many hundred lodges haA'e been established in

the four quarters of the habitable globe ; and m whatever else men may dispute and disagree , yet they are unanimous in supporting so amiable an institution , as it annihilates all differences , conciliates all private opinions , and renders those AVIIO hy their Almighty Father Avere formed of one blood , to be of oue heart , one mindbrothers boundfirmlbound together in

, ; y one unalterable , one unalienable tie , the love of their God , and the love of their felloAV-creatures . " Masonry must and will always keep pace with the culture and civilisation of mankind ; for Ave may with truth aver , that where Masonry is not , civilisation is not to be found . In rude and barbarous countries

and iu savage climes , Avhere operative Masonry never lays the line or stretches the compasses , we must be convinced that neither liberal art nor useful science can ever shine upon them , but where Masonry exerts its heaven-directed talents—Avhere it erects the lofty temples , spacious palaces , noble bridges , and beneto its Archi

volent hospitals—where it giA'es patron - tecture completion and glory—then does it eminently display the improvement oi' youth and the delight of old age , the ornament of prosperity and the solace aud comfort of adverse hours ; it pleases us at home —it is no incumbrance abroad—it lodges Avith us ,

travels Avith us , and adds pleasure and amusement in all our solitary retirements . " The professors of Masonry are possessed of certain sigus and tokens , known only by themselves , which have been preserved with inviolable secrecy from remotest ages . These were originally adopted that they

might knoAV each other with the greater ease and certainty from the rest of mankind , that impostors might not intrude upon their confidence , and intercept the fruits of their benevolence . This , amongst Masons , became an universal language , and which notwithstanding the confusion of tongues , or the forbidding alienation of custom , draws from the heart of a stranger the acknowledgment of a brother , with all its attendant endearments .

" The decorations and symbols of the Craft serve to characterise our noble institution ; and the emblems are certain indications of the simplest , purest , and most important moral truths . Masonry connects men of all nations and of all opinions into _ one amicable , firm , and permanent association ; binds them

by IIOAV obligations to the discharge of every relative and moral duty ; and thus becomes the most essential support and brightest ornament of social life ; opens a Avider channel for benevolent actions , and adds a new source to human happiness . Its laws are reason and equity ; its principles benevolence and love ; and

its religion purity and truth—its inclination is peace and its disposition good-will toAvards men . " Let us be cautious , then , my brethren , that our private as well as public conduct may never contradict our professions . Let us studiously avoid being guilty of any vice or impropriety that may tarnish the

lustre of our jewels , or bring a disgrace upon the credit of the ' Craft . Masonry will rise to the zenith of its glory , if our lives do justice to its nobler principles ; and the world will see that our actions hold a strict and uniform correspondence with the incomparable tenets Ave profess . Remember , brothers , Ave are the associated friends of humanity ; that our sacred union embraces in its philanthropy the amities of the Gospel ; and that charity , in its largest extent