Masonic Notes And Queries.

" containing patronizing advice to excite his muse by a visit to his classic country , "—for the Earl spent his summers at his seat afc Drybiu-gb . He is represented in the picture as in the act of handing the letter to Alexander Cunningham , " who occupies the seat next to that which Burns , always resorted to . " There seems to have been some foible in the Earl's characteristics , for Burns , in his reply , with a singular freedom says : —¦ " 1 wish for nothing more than to make a leisurely pilgrimage .

* * * * But in the midst of these enthusiastic reveries , a long-visaged , dry , moral-looking phantom slides across my imagination , and pronounces these emphatic words , 'I , Wisdom , dwell with Prudence . * * * * Now that your dear-loved Scotia puts it in your power to return to the situation of } our forefathers , will you follow these will-o' -wisp meteors of fancy and whim , till they bring you to the brink of ruin ?

once more ' " In 1791 the Earl wrote him again , "intimating a grand festive commemoration of the poet of the seasons , to take place on his Lordships' grounds at Edman , on the 22 nd of September , on wliich occasion the bust of Thomson was to he crowned hy the Earl with hays . Burns could not resist the appeal to his muse on behalf of this sweet Bard , and so he transmitted the * Address to the Shade of Thomson , ' but , along with it , lie wrote

the Earl that , ' a week or two ' s absence in the very middle of my harvest is what I much doubt I dare not venture on . '" Burns was at this time on the farm at Nithsdale . In 1792 , the Earl was presented with a box made of the oak which sheltered Sir William Wallace , bearing the following inscription : — " Presented by the Goldsmiths of Edinburgh to David Stuart Erskine , Earl of Buchan , with the Freedom of their corporation , by their deacon— -A . D . 1791 . " The earl could

not consent to retain this precious gift , bufc , by consent of the donors , immediately transmitted it to General Washington , then President of the United States , as may be seen by the following notice published in the papers of this country at the

time . PHILADELPHIA , January 4 , 1792 . " On Friday morning was presented to the President of the United States a box , elegantly mounted wifch silver , and made of tho celebrated oak tree that sheltered the Washington of Scotland , the brave and patriotic Sir William Wallace , alter his defeat at the battle of Falkirk , in the beginning of the fourteenth century , byJGdward 1 . This magnificent and truly

characteristic present is from the Earl of Buchan , by the hand of Mr . Archibald Robinson , a Scottish gentleman , and portrait painter , who arrived in America some months ago . The box was xirescnted to Lord Buchan hy the Goldsmith ' s Company of Edinburgh , from whom his Lordship requested and obtained leave , to make it over to a man whom he deemed more deserving of it than himself , and the only man in the world to whom he thought it justldue . We hear further that Lord

y Buchan has , hy letter , requested of the President that , on the event of his decease , he will consign the box to that man , in this country , who shall appear in his judgement , to merit it best , upon the same consideration that induced him to send it to the present possessor . " Our readers , we are sure , will excuse us for this brief historical digression , even if we complete it bv tracing the " box " a little

further . In the last will and testament of the great Washington we find this : " Item . —To the Earl of Buchan I recommit the ' Box made of the oak that sheltered the great Sir William Wallace , after the battle of Falkirk , ' presented to me hy his Lordship , in terms too flattering for me to repeat , with a request' to pass it , on the event of my decease , to the man in my country who should appear to merit it best , upon the same conditions that

induced him to send it to me . ' Whether easy or not to select the man who might comport with his Lordships's opinion in this respect , is not for me to say ; but , conceiving that no disposition of this valuable curiosity can be more eligible than the recommitment of it to his own cabinet , agreeably to the original designs of the Goldsmiths' Company of Edinburgh , who presented it to him , and at his request , consented that it should be transferred tomeIdo ive and bequeath the same to his

, . g Lordship : and , in case of his decease , to " his heir , with my grateful thanks for the distinguished honour of presenting it to me , and more especially for the favourable sentiments with which he accompanied it . " But we are now done with the Box and the donor . It was a worthy gift from a noble Mason in the old world , to the most illustrious one on this side the ocean .

CHAEI . ES MOEE . In the centre of a group the right of the Master in the picture before referred to , is Charles More , Deputy Master of the Lod ^ e , He was also an officer in the Royal Arch Chapter , and was deeply attached to Masonry . He was connected with the Royal Bank ; was a gentleman of good address and agreeable manners , and his society was courted by persons of rank and distinction .

PATEICE MILLEE . Of Dalwinton , was the son of Sir Thomas Miller . He had been bred a hanker , hut applied himself chiefly to scientific pursuits , and was the first to propose the application of steam power to navigation . He was initiated in the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge , on the 12 th of Febuary , 1765 . Seeing a copy of the Kilmarnock edition of Burns' Poems , his attention was arrested by the following stanza , referring to his father and his property near Tarbolton :

"Ttacmg \\ maw ,- a - « iM TOranvtie gro-ie , J ^ ear many a hermit-fancied cove , Fit haunt for friendship or for love , An aged Judge , I saw him rove . Dispensing good . " Soon after Bnrns' arrival in Edinburgh , he met the poet , for the first time , in the Lodge , and a day or two after sent him ten pounds as a present ; and on the 13 th of December , Burns

writes— " I drank a glass of claret with him , by invitation , at his own house yesternight . " At this interview , learning Burns ' desire to devote his life to farming , Mr . Miller offered him his choice of a farm ( by lease ) in a large tract he he had lately purchased in Dumfrieshire . In the following June , Burns visited , the land , and selected Ellisland , of which betook possession in the spring of 1778 . The friendship formed between the Bard and Mr . Miller , was sincere , and lasting as life .

MASONIC JEWELS OT EVE 11 Y GUADE . Is there any work published in which fche Masonic-Jewels , of every grade , are delineated?—COSTUMIER . FOREIGN JEWEL . A . silver jewel of an heptagonal form is in the possession of a brother Mason . It bears on tho obverse an imperial crown at the topin the middle a capital Fwhilst

, , the base has the two flukes of au anchor , the stem rising through the letter F—the crown—and passing out of fche top as a ring , forming the head of tho anchor , and a suspender to which to attach a ribbon ; round the margin are the words : Zerrubahel et Fredericc . of the Crown of Hope . I believe ifc is a Danish Jewel , and belongs to some lodge at Copenhagen . Can any one say if it is a

Centenary Jewel , and if it belongs to a lodge called Zerrubabel and Frederick of the Crown of Hope , if such a lodge exists or did exist at Copenhagen . — "W " . J . M . —[ At present we cannot undertake to say what the above jewel is , because there are doubts on our mind as to the exact wording of the inscription , ifc being in two languages , a most unusual proceeding . The easiest and most homely

way of forwarding suchimpressionsisbycoveringthe jewel with tissue paper , and passing lightly , several times , theback part of the bowl of a leaden tea-spoon over the paper . From this action an exact copy will be made , and if W .. J . M . will favour us with such a one , we will endeavour to ascertain what he requires . The leaden , spoon is a desideratum from its being soft , free from grit or hard substances , aud therefore not likely to injure the jewel . Of course if you can get prepared paper and heel-ball , used for rubbings , they will be the best of all . ]

LODGE SECRETARIES AND TIIE GKAND SECllETAET . In a letter from the Grand Secretary , he says " private lodges usually follow the practice of Grand Lodge as closely as circumstances will permit . " In Grand Lodge the Grand Secretary sits at the foot of the dais , as if ifc was only that Grand Officers should hear the minutes , the members at the lower end of the hall being treated as

outsiders , although by the vote of the whole of the members does the Grand Secretary keep his appointment , for it is in the power of Grand Lodge to dismiss him . Now in private lodges the Secretary is p laced in the north , opposite the J . W ., and this appears to me the most con-