Masonic Notes And Queries.

if other evidence were wanting , the absurdity and almost inconceivable rashness of such a theory . To advance Masonic truth , and to extend Masonic knowledge , this would no doubt afford a valid reason for salutary fraternal discussion ; but , as the whole tendency of "Delta ' s " previous and recent communications is to sap the very foundation upon which Craft Masonry rests , both by

implied doubt and direct assault on its system and claims , and to substitute in its stead the childish and chimerical pretensions of so-called " high degrees , " such a discussion becomes , to sincere Craft Masons , both an unwelcome and unwholesome employment . "Were if really worth the while of us poor Craft Masons , ignorant and credulous though we are said to beand the

laugh-, ing stock of the profane , we could , I think , prove even to the satisfaction of the most sceptical antagonist , that frequent allusions to Hiram Abiff , as he is constantly termed , may be found long previous to 1715 . And so as regards many other matters . But is it really

worth our while to take the trouble to give easy replies to queries which subserve no useful end—which , even if answered , add nothing to our existing stores of Masonic information , and which form the advance-guard , so to say , of a baseless and hopeless , yet cherished delusion ? I , for one , think not ; and , therefore , conclude this note with a saving protest on behalf of myself , and many an

earnest and not wholly unlettered Craft Mason . Because "Delta ' s" queries are not answered , bo it remembered that they are not , therefore , unanswerable , either in respect to the facts they assume or the doubts they suggest . Despite , moreover , so much , week by week , of unqualified statement and hazardous assumptionlet it be

, borne in mind that materials abound , and are daily inei-easing , which serve to prove incontestibly the wonderful antiquity , reality , and genuineness of our present Craft Masonry , as opposed to any other system , and as separate from any other organisation . —EBOK . HIGH PRIESTHOOD .

Where can I be admitted to the unrecognised Order of High Priesthood ?—B **** . NEW GRAND LODGE . Are the Scilly Islands included in any Masonic jurisdiction ; and could not a new Grand Lodge be formed there P—P . —[ No ; they are dependencies of the British Crown , and under the Grand Master of England . ]

KNIGHTS OF DEATH . What degree is called the Kni ghts of Death , and where is it practised ?—B **** . KNIGHTS TEMPLAR . What was the rise of this Order , and how did it come byjthe name of Knights Templar ?—H . N . —[ In or about

1099 , a band of nine knights formed themselves into a a holy brotherhood in arms , and entered into a solemn compact to aid one another in clearing the highways and protecting the pilgrims through the passes and defiles of the mountains to the Holy City . "Warmed with the religious and military fervour of the ago , and animated by the saeredness of the cause to which they had devoted their

lives , tbey called themselves the Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ . Tbey ronouncedthe world and its pleasures , and , in the holy Church of the Resurrection , in the presence of the patriarch of Jerusalem , they embraced vows of perpetual chastity , obedience , and poverty , after the manner of monks . Uniting in themselves the two most popular qualities of the devotion and valour

age , , and exercising them in the most popular of all enterprises , they speedily acquired a famous reputation . At first , we are told , they had no church " and no particular place of abode ; but in the year 1118 ( nineteen years after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders ) , they had rendered such good and acceptable serrice to the Christians , that Baldwin II ., King of Jerusalem ,

granted them a place of habitation within the sacred inclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah , amid those holy and magnificent structures , partly erected by the Christian Emperor Justinian , and partly built by the Caliph Omar , which were then exhibited by the monks and priests of Jerusalem , whose restless zeal led them to practise on the credulity of the pilgrimsand to . multil

, py relics and all objects likely to be sacred in their eyes , as tho Temple of Solomon , whence the Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ came thenceforth to be known by the name of " The Knighthood of tho Temple of Solomon ; " and subsequently that designation was abbreviated into Knights Templar . ]

THE ANGELS OF THE SECRET SECTS . Dante , Petrarch , Boccaccio , and others , call their alle * gorical ladies angels . Did these ladies represent the secret sects through which Freemasonry came down to us ? —Z . Z . —[ Partially so . The secret brotherhood—Rose Croix—called themselves and their disciples angels , spirits , aud elect . All that belonged to them was

described as something appertaining to heaven , and the profane , i . e ., the uninitiated who persecuted them , are pourtrayed as infernal . The Swedenborgian system is full of such imagery , but the difference between the early leaders of the Freemasons and Swedenborg is , that the former put forth their mysteries as poetical fictions , whilst the latter described his as facts happening to

himself . Swedenborg has been accepted by some as a literal prophet , but others have classed him as a madman , and visionary ; whilst those who are angels and read his works with angelic eyes , know that he was neither saint or madman when he wrote thus : — " The instant in which man thinks he is dying , is precisely that in which he rises ; when this happens he enters into the iritual

sp world , and becomes an angel with human form ; and there are no other angels but those who become such by leaving this world . Every new angel in this world of spirits is received by old ones , who instruct him in the spiritual sense of the writings . " " Z . Z . " will excuse our going into further details in print , but if he will send his address to us we shall be happy to tell him more . ]

GRAND LODGE ATTENDANCE . Is there any way of ascertaining what are the proportions of London and country members who attend Grand Lodge?—A PROVINCIAL . —[ None that we know of . In August , 1859 , Bro . Sherry , of the Winchester Lodge of Economy , whilst speaking on this subject , said : — " He had lately made an application to the Grand Secretary in

London , and that officer had kindly sent him down some particulars , which showed the great distinguishable difference in the attendance of the London and the provincial brethren at Grand Lodge during the last two years . The returns he had received gave him the following details in this respect : —

No . of No . of Quarterly Meeting . ^ Si SS' ° - present . present . 1857—June 3 150 11 161 September 2 101 7 198

Decembei-2 10 G 39 235 1858—March 3 178 4-2 220 June 2 148 30 178 September 1 10-i 11 115 December 1 212 40 252 1859—March 1 213 46 259 Junel 130 42 172

Totals 1522 268 1790

And these figures showed that the attendance of the London Masons had been four-fifths more than thai ; o £ the provincial brethren . " ]