Masonic Notes And Queries.

LODGES IXTEKDICTED BY ACT OP PARLIAMEXT . When were now Lodges prohibited by Act of Parliament ? and has that statute boon repealed ?—M . P . " ORDER IS HEAVEN ' S PIRST LAW . " ' Order is Heaven ' s first Law , " is reported to have boon performed at every meeting of the Grand Chapter of HarodimThe words woro written bBrother Hoorthouck

- . y ; sot to music by Companion Samuel Webbe , fche celebrated glee composer ; and sung by companions Webbe , Gore , and Page . Tho words arc to lie found in pretty well all Masonic song-books , but where is fcho music ? If any Brother , or Lodge has it , and will allow a copy to be made of it , he , or thoy , will greatly oblige . —MATTHEW COOKE .

THE ROOK 01 ' CONSTITUTIONS . Who prepared the Book of Constitutions as we now have it ?—LEX MASOXICA . —[ They were revised in 1813 , by William Williams , Esq . Barrister-at-Law , M . P ., for Weymouth , and Prov . G-. M . for Dorsetshire . And they were partly published , by the Grand Lodge authority , though never comjilctccl . ]

THE 33 ° IN IRELAND . Are there any Brethren of tho 33 ° in Ireland , and is it legal there ?—0 . A . P . —[ There are many . It is not only legal but , in conjunction with the Holy Eoyal Arch " and the Knights-Tcmjilar , is recognised by the Grand Lodgo of Ireland . ] . .

THE MASOXIC MURDER IX BELFAST . What is known about a Masonic murder that is alleged to have taken place in Belfast some years ago ?—HIBEHXIAX . —[ You may got all the particulars of the idle talc for a penny . There is a startling book of Masonic disclosures , and crimes now selling for that amount at every little stationers . Ecad it . Wc should all read such things to know how to answer them . ]

E . A . P . [ To do what this correspondent requires , would entail on us something like six months bard searching . ] MASONRY IX SWEDEN " . What is known about tho Swedish system of Masonry , and is there any list of Lodges in that country , ivhich might help a Brother Mason purposing a visit ?—TEE SEE .

SECRET COCIETIES . Whore shall I got a good account of the Secret Societies ? —G . H . —[ There is an excellent paper on them in The British Critic , for Juno , 1821 , another in Chambers ' s Papers lor flic People , Vol . IV . 1850 , and an article in The British Magazine , of October , 1840 . These G . H . will find are general articles on Secret Societies , but if ho requires any particular one , or what has been written , in this way , on our Order , he must lvrifce again to us . ]

THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG . Where is a curious tract on our fraternity . in the shape of a disclosure , to be obtained , which rejoices in tho title of The Cat Out of the Bag ?—A SLY Puss . THE FREEMASONS' MIXUET AXD COUXTRY DANCE . If any Brother is in possession of The Freemasons' Minuet and Country Vance , and will allow a copy of it to betaken , he will much obli

very ge Buo . MATTHEW COOKE . THE INEFFABLE NAME . [ Onr correspondent writing on this subject , must be aware that wo are bound not to reveal certain words , either orally or by any other process , and if he has been so thoughtless as to violate such a promise , that is no reason why we should follow his example . His letter has been destroyed , and wc hope will , for tho future , bo more cautious . ]

LODGE MEETIXGS . Can any list of tbo mooting places of the various Lodges lie supplied , with particular reference to the changes they havo made , and when these took place ?—J . 1 I . " THE MALLET AXD TROWEL . Arc the mallet and trowel worn by any Order of Masons ? Mreason for asking isthat in old late of Masonic

y , every p emblems , they arc always prominent objects . —J . — - [ The Senior G . Deacon of Scotland , wears on his apron , the mallet within a wreath . The J . G . Deacon , wears a trowel similarly jicircled . ]

Masonic Notes And Queries.

THE HIGH GRADES . What becomes of the money paid to tho Supreme G . Council of the 33 ° for registering members , & c . ?—PIXAXCIEI * . ROYAL ARCH . As much of the ceremony in this degree is traditional ,, what is the authority for its retention ?—A SCRIBE . —[ Eead Josephus ' s " Antiquities of the Jews , " translated by Whiston .

Ii is a common book , to be procured for a few shillings , at , every book stall . ] QUERIES ANSWERED . In tho last number of the MAGAZINE , I noticed in " Hotes and Queries , " an inquiry if there are any bishops among the members of the Craft , and you reply that there is one in the Apollo Univ . Lodge of Oxford . I beg to inform you

that three gentlemen have been initiated in that Lodge , who have afterwards arrived at the dignity of "lawn sleeves , " viz . —in 1821 , George T . Spencer , late Bishop of Madras ; in 1826 , Francis Tulford , Bishop of Montreal ; in 1830 , Walter Kerr Hamilton , Bishop of Salisbury . I have observed lately in the MAGAZINE that some one questions the right of Entered Apprentices to vote or to take

part in the business of the Lodge , unless there is a bye-law to the contrary . I consider they cannot be deprived of this privilege ; and I doubt if the Grand Master would sanction any such bye-law if proposed . In another place you rule that a candidate for the K . T . degree must have been a S . A . Mason for twelve months before ho is eligible . I think you will find that no interval is required . —EICHARD JAMES TUNIS , P . G . C . D . P . G . M ., Oxen ..

Literature. Review.

Literature . REVIEW .

A Second Series of Vicissitudes of Families . By SIR BERNARD BURKE , Ulster , King at Arms . Longman and Co . Sir Bernard Burke has been for some years before the public as an author of Genealogical and Heraldic works-He also is known by several series of works bearing on Family History , and which he first commenced some twenty

years shice , in a periodical called The Patrician . These materials grew on his hands , as materials of this kind will accumulate , which every writer so well knows , until the mere collection assumed so bulky a form , that ifc was a hard matter to know what to print and what to discard . Accordingly Sir Bernard , then Mr . Burke , gave to the world some skctchily told episodes of the vicissitudes of fortune ,,

that had occured in Families well-known for their ancient fame , wealth , or power . His materials nofc being anything like exhausted , we are now treated to A Second Series of the same work , which , while it is amusing , would be much more valuable if its dates and events were moro reliable . In the production of such a work by an authority , which Ulster King-at-Arms must be considered , it is wonderful how many errors and absurdities have crept in , and when we consider for a moment that the writer has all his life been , moro or

less , dealing with family liistory , there can bo no excuse for such puerile blunders as this volume presents . There is a chapter entitled " the Bodice-maker of Bristol , " and this embodies the well-known story of the Knight oi Bristol , who , when Prince George of Denmark landed in that city , in order to espouse the Princess Anne , stepped forward and invited the Prince homo with him , while all the

city-magistrates had left the Eoyal wooer to shift for himself as ho best might . Sir Bernard Burke tell us , Duddlestone was Knighted by Queen Anne , realised a fortune , was raised to a Baronetcy "in 1691-2 , " and was totally ruined by the great storm of 1704 . How this is totally opposed to fact , as Queen Anno did nofc ascend the throne until 1702 , and two years , the date of the groat storm being accurately stated , little

scorns enough time for a loyal breeches maker , for that was his real trade although transformed into a " boddice maker" by the potent pen of a Knight-at-Arms , to have been ruined in . Again we learn from our genealogical chief that Henry VIII . fined De Vere , Earl of " Oxford , for welcoming him with too large and princely a retinue , and as this information is repeated more than once , it cannot be considered a misprint , and if wc were to put the same question , to any set