Masonic Notes And Queries.

foot , some in carts , some on asses , entertained the gaping crowd with various signs and other manoeuvres in derision of the Freemasons . The name given to these brothers was the Scall'd Miserablcs . In consequence of the ridicule thus put upon the Order , the Grand Lodge prudentl ( as Anderson )

rey says solved to discontinue for the future the usual public procession of the society on the feast day . " Whether this affair gave occasion to other persons to be witty at the society's expense , I know not ; but it is certain that from this period various caricature prints were produced to ridicule the Orderand

, many publications appeared pretending to discover all its secrets . It is somewhat remarkable , that though the ingenious Hogarth was a member of the Fraternity , aud actually served the office of Grand Steward in 1735 , yet he could not refrain from exercising his pencil and graver in derision of the society . In his

picture of night , one of the most conspicuous figures is that of a Master of a lodge led home drunk by the Tyler . " About the year 1766 , a new society sprang up ancl affected to assume an independence of the Grand Lodge under the name of the Grand Chapter of

Royal Arch Masons . Before that time every lodge conceived itself competent to improve itself " to the utmost extent in Masonry ; and to exercise all the higher branches of the Order , bv virtue of that

authority which it derived from the Grand Lodge . But novr some brethren in London , thinking themselves wiser than the rest , continued to form themselves into a distinct body , ancl to issue out dispensations for holding chapters in this Order . One innovation begets another . The Royal Arch Chapter made a good deal of money bthe credulitof the brethren

y y at large . This prompted some other ingenious Masons to erect still higher and more dazzling initiations , as points of a more sublime nature in Masonry . The next improvement was the formation of a Royal and Grand Conclave of Knights Templars of St . John of Jerusalem , Avhich was independent of both the

Grand Lodge or the Royal Arch Chapter . It must be admitted that Royal Arch Masonry connects itself extremely Avell with what is called Craft Masonry , ancl suitably supplies those deficiencies Avhich every intelligent brother must see reason to complain of in it . There is also a degree of moral eloquence , and

even piety , in the degree of Royal Arch , both Avith respect to its lectures , ceremonies , and forms of admission , Avhich appears to be wanting in the Craft . " The rest of the article , Avhich is but a feAV lines , consists of an abuse of the Order of Knights Templars which shows either that the Order was very different at that period from its present exalted character , or that the Avriter , Avho signs himself "Z . II . T ., " was ignorant of its true meaning .

THE MORGAN CASE . In The Knr / ineer of Dec . 23 rd , 1864 , is a notice of the life of Robert Stephenson , Kli . S ., & c . by J . C . Jeaffreson , Barrister-at-law , and William Pole , K . B . S ., from which I extract the following : —At Cartagena , on his return homeRobert Stephenson fell in with

, Trevithick , the original locomotist , Avho , with mechanical faculties apparently of a higher order than either of the Stephensons , and with worldly chances more in his favour , yet lacked the business qualities that constitute success in the art of money making .

lie was not commercial , while George Stephenson AA'as in a high degree , from the time of his early savings to his latter accumulations . There was a rude generosity—perhaps we may call it Avaste—about Trevithick . Conscious of power to create wealth by labour-saving machines , he thought that he could create , waste , and recreate without end , forgetting that capital Avas a fulcrum needful to rest his lever on : so that after a Avhile in Peru

" Silver graitlied his hooves before , Silver grnitlied behind " of the horse he rode , a change came over his fortunes , and he came , almost shoeless , on foot and footsore , to Cartagena , to be helped in his return to Europe by the silver dollars of Robert Stephenson . They sailed

for New York , and fell in Avith dismasted hulks of vessels Avhose crews lived on the dead bodies of their fellows . Finally , they Avere themselves shipwrecked , ancl lost their first chance in the boat that carried the passengers ashore , on account of the mate of the vessel and some steerage passengers being

Freemasons ; Avhereupon Robert took the earliest opportunity of becoming a Freemason ou reaching New York , in order not to be at a future disadvantage . Freemasonry is clanship in another form— " ourselves against the Avorld ; " and it Avas not long after Robert ' s initiation that this same body captured , in the dead

of night , an offending printer , AVIIO threatened to disclose their secrets , carried him to an old building on the St . Lawrence , and finally , dreading after results , threw him over the Falls of Niagara , to seal his lips ; and , in subsequent legal proceedings committed some thirty thousand perjuries to close the transactions .

So ran the tale . The latter portion of the above , so far as it relates to the notorious Morgan case , is untrue as the murdered man lived and died in Smyrna , and was Avell known to the American residents here . — IIXBE CLARKE , SMYRNA .

THE MOTHER OE MASONS . I am told there is a song about " The Mother of Masons . " Where can it be seen , and who Avas its author ?—VOCALIST . —[ You can see it below . It was the production of the well known Brother Thomas Smith Webb , and comprises the following three stanzas : —

" Freemasons all , attend the call , 'Tis by command , you are warned , To fill up a bumper and have it in hand , To drink to the Mother of Masons . Let ns give each the word to his brother , To prove that we love orie another : Let's fill to the dame , from whence we all came , And call her of Masons the Mother .

Chorus : The Stewards have laid the foundations , To prove that we love our relations , By toasting the dame from whom we all came—We'll call her the Mother of Masons .

" In days of yore , Freemasons bore A flask of wine , of mirth the sign , And often they filled with the liquor divine * To drink to the Mother of Masons . 'Tis on these joyful occasions , All charged stood firm to their stations , And toasted the dame from whom we all came , Repeating the Mother of Masons . Chorus .