Selfishness.

the magnet , he is alike insensible to the pains and joys , the weal or woe of the rest of his fellow mortals . It must be evident that the selfish man can have no feelings harmonizing with Freemasonry . In the scrutiny into the qualifications of candidates or applicants for the privileges of Masonry the social and affectional nature should be inquired into , as well as the moral and physical qualifications . Only those who can reciprocate and mutually feel , loveiveand

sympathize , , g , participate and share in the happiness and griefs of others , ought properly to be admitted into our benevolent Order . The heart of Masonry is large enough for the whole of mankind , if all possessed the proper qualities and attributes ; but it has no room for the selfish and unsympathizing . The poor and weary traveller , as he walks his brief space of time on earthcan always find a friend in his brother of the mystic tie

, , no matter what his country or his creed , aud as we are told " the poor ye have always in your midst , " the practices of the true Freemason accord with the teachings of the institution , which emphatically illustrate that mau lives not for himself alone .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

A NOTE ON MARK MASONRY . FBOJI Walter White's Northumberland and the Border , 2 nd edition . London : Chapman and Hall , 1859 . In notice of the crypt under the ( former ) nave of Hexham Abbey , occurs the following passage : — ' * ' But while iu this gloomy place you will see something to wonder atold though it beThe walls built of something yet older

; . are - stones from the Roman wall . You can still see the curious marks cut by the Masons who first squared them , and in the roof of one of the passages an inscribed tablet bearing the names of two of the Emperors . " Aud in notice of Prudhoe Castle the same author states : —

" On portions of the ruin antiquaries have discovered Mason marks identical with marks still traceable at Alnwick and Dunstanborough . " W . E . W . THE MASONIC SECRETS . Were the secrets of Masonry ever divulged , so as to let persons who were not Masons penetrate into our Lodges?—E . A . W . — [ Inquire of all Masons you meet , if they ever detected an impostor in their Lod and

ge , , if they have done so , it is more than we ever did . Reports often lead us astray ; we have heard of persons not being Masons having been seen in Lodges , but when we came to inquire if our informants saw any such , it lias always turned out to be the old story , that " they had heard from some one else , they forgot who , that such had ' been the case . " We do not that there have not been such admissionsbut ive should

say , like to have chapter and verse for them , ancl to know when , . where , anil by whom did such persons get access to a Lodge . We have been present when applicants have been refused admission , they not being able satisfactoril y to prove themselves Masons . ]

FATE OE WILLIAM MORGAN . The enclosed is a sketch I obtained when in the United States ; though you may have read one before , yet to " A Lover of Truth , " ancl others , it may not be uninteresting . Captain William Morgan was born in Virginia , U . S . ; by trade he ivas a mason ( operative ancl speculative ) , but afterwards became a brewer , and resided some little time at York , Upper Canada , about 1321 , but here he became involved in troubles

owing to a fire and losing all his property ; he removed to New York State , where lie worked at his trade iu Rochester and Batavia . In the year 1820 it was reported that Captain Morgan , in connection with others , was preparing , with intent to publish , a work that would " Reveal the Secrets of Freemasonry , " and great excitement existed in relation to its publication . In the month of September , 182— , he was seized b fei of law at

y a gned process Batavia , and forcibly carried to Canandaigua ( he was at this time preparing his work for publication . ) This contemplated publication excited some of the fraternity , and numbers were heard to say it should be suppressed at all hazards . Meetings of delegates were held from different Lodges of the western countries , to devise means for effectually preventing it . Zealous members were angry and excited , and made desperate threatsabout flu ' time

; s an incendiary attempt was made to fire the office of Col . Miller , ( who was to publish the book ) , where , after a mock trial , he was discharged , but immediately again arrested and committed to prison for debt ; the next night he was released b y the pretended friendship of a brother ; upon leaving the prison door he was again sewed , and notwithstanding his repeated cries of murder , was thrust with violence into a carriage waiting f 01- that purpose , and carried , by relays of horses through a thickl y populated country , one hundred and hfteen miles iu a little more than twenty-four hours , and

Masonic Notes And Queries.

secured as prisoner at Forfc Niagara . AU parties m connection with this affair were Freemasons , as was afterwards proved on their trial , when they were found guilty aucl sentenced to various terms of imprisonment . The actual fate of Captain Morgan was never known , but it was supposed he was taken out into the lake , where his throat was cut and his body sunk in fifty fathoms of water . Col . David Miller was now seized ancl taken to Le Ray , it being

the intention to take him where Morgan was—where that may be can be judged by the declaration of James Guusa , a member of the U . S . legislature , ancl also one ofthe conspirators— "That he was put where he should stay until God should call for him . " Miller was afterwards liberated , as the inhabitants of Le Ray interfered with the schemes of his kidnappers . I hope soon to read your account also , to see if there is any similarity of statement . —M . M . —[ AVe have seen twenty accounts of the affair , all differing in their results . Can any one send us an account of the trial stated to have taken place ] .

Literature. Reviews.

Literature . REVIEWS .

Government on First Principles , Proved and Illustrated Analogically . By JOHN GKOSSMITII , 8 VO ., pp . -183 . London : Piper , Stephenson , and Spence . OF late years it has become a fashion to philosophize on every trifling incident in the life of man as an individual , or the acts of Governments as representing the life of a nation . Huge volumes of dreary speculation have issued from the press abounding with

prescriptions which their authors say , if practised , would be for the benefit of mankind ; but they have generally ended in raising the standard of rebellion against all human institutions , and attempt at superseding all existing theories and systems from the clays of Thales ancl Pythagoras down to the positivism of M . Auguste Comte . AA ' e have now before us another philosopher , one who tells us that he looks at the science of government as

fundamentally wrong , and , by analogy to first principles , is anxious to set it right , after his own fashion . Mr . Grossmith divides his subject into one hundred and twentynine Chapters , with Appendices on the Policy of raising Loans for the State ; Imperial Revenue and Expenditure ; and an Account ofthe Gross Receipt and Net Produce of the Revenue of Customs and Excise . From this bare enumeration of the number of

subjects which Government on First Principles treats of , it will be readily perceived that to enter into a thorough analysis of the work is altogether beyond the limits we could assign to it , and so we must content ourselves by an examination of sonic of its statements .

In our author ' s introduction he asks " for the kind indulgence ofthe reader while he leads him through the sciences of geology , geometry , metallurgy , and chemistry , ivhich arc briefly introduced as analogical corroborations , in order that first principles of government may be more clearly illustrated . " From this it will be seen that our author is more or less scientific , but he also tell us that "the basis of governmentsas now constituted

very , , is wrong . They are wrong theologically , morally , and civilly . It would , therefore , be useless to start at once upon the grand principles of theocracy without offering preparatory considerations . AA e will then endeavour to produce scientific deductions from the sceptical ; theological and philosophical axioms for the thoughtful , the virtuous , and the pure ; ancl just principles for all . "

If we now descend to the examination of the details of the above scheme we shall find just what any reasonable man would expect —that there are some sensible remarks scattered up and down the volume amongst the multifarious subjects on which it discourses , and as to the sciences with which Mr . Grossmith is acquainted . He appears to have studied the " ologies" ancl to be a tolerable geometrician ; but when a man sets himself up as a universal

critic in all branches of knowledge , it seems , to our comprehension , that he takes upon himself far more than he is justified in doing . Not even the learning of a Bacon , Locke , Newton , Iierschel , Leibnitz , Kant , Descartes , Fichte , Herder , or Jacobi , can warrant any individual to claim such a dictatorship as this . AA e will not designate Mr . Grossmith as " a Jack of all trades and master of none" becauseas we before statedhe is a good

, , , , though not an eminent geometrician , and has _ a very laudable acquaintance with the principal branches of physics ; but this will not justify his preaching , as he has done , de rebus omnibus , el quibusdeun ciliis . Even in those departments which he hits studied