Masonic Notes And Queries.

INDIAN MYSTERIES . Where is the best account of the Indian Mysteries to he found ?—B . B . —[ See Moor ' s Hindu Pantheon , 4 to , London , 1810 . ] BRO . WM . PR 33 STON . Where Avas Bro . William Preston born , and in what year?—CLEAN PROOF . —[ He was born at Edinburgh , July

28 th , 1740 , and was educated at the University in that city . Removed to London in 1760 . Died , April 7 th , 1818 , and was buried in St . Paul's Cathedral . ] FORM OF EXPELLING MASONS . Is there any peculiar form used in the expulsion of brethren from the Craft , such as there used to be a hundred yeai-s since ?—E . A . F .

THE MASONIC LADDER . We often hear of the Masonic Ladder . Is there any legend attached to ifc?—C . A . P . —[ The ladder of seven rounds has been a symbol in many ages and countries . It is popularly regarded by Masons as an allusion to Jacob ' s ladder . Amongst the ancients every round was considered to be represented by a metal increasing in purity from the lowest

to the highest , and these again were characterised hy the names of the seven planets , ' as follows . The first round is the loivest ; therefore you will read the folloAving from the bottom to the top . 7 . Gold The Sun . 6 . Silver The Moon . 5 . Iron ,, Mars .

4 . Tin . " Jupiter . 3 . Copper Venus . 2 . Quicksilver Mercury . 1 . Lead Saturn . The Cabalists called it the Sephiroth , and symbolised the steps thus : —1 . Strength ; 2 . Mercy ; 3 . Beauty ; 4 . Eternitv ; 5 . Glory ; 6 . The foundation ; 7 . The kingdom . ]

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

" Catullus at his Brother's Grave " is thus beautifully Englished hy Mr . Theodore Martin , in . his neivly-published Poems of Catullus , translated into English . Verse : — " O ' er many a sea , o ' er many a stranger land , I bring this tribute to thy lonely tomb , My brother ! and beside the narrow room , That holds thy silent ashes weeping stand .

Vainly I call to thee . Who can command An answer forth from Orcus' dreary gloom ? Oh , brother , brother , life lost all its bloom , AVhen thou Avert snateh'd from me with pitiless hand ! A day ivill come , when AA- 6 shall meet once more ! Meanwhile , these gifts , ivhich to the honour'd grave Of those they loved in life our sires of yore With pious hand and reverential gave , Accept ! Gifts moisten'd with a brother's tears ! And now , farewell , ancl rest thee from all fears I "

Born some seventeen years before Virgil , and tiventy-two before Horace , Catullus does not appear to have become nearly so ivell known to modern readers as cither of the other two Latin poets . Wc are glad that his works , or such as now remain of them , have fallen into the hands of so able a translator . The following is Mr . Martin ' s rendering of the neat little poem , " To Cornificius : " —

" Ah , Cornificius , ill at ease Is thy Catullus' breast ; Each day , each hour that ' passes sees Him more and more depressed : "And yet no word of comfort , no Kind thought , hoivever slight , Comes from thy hand . Ah , is ifc so ,

Thafc you my love requite ? " One little lay to lull my fears , To grve ' nry sjiirit ease , Ay , though 'twere sadder than the tears Of sad Simonides !" Dr . Andrew Winter , in his neiv book , Our Social Pees , remarks of the hay asthma : — "Many ' personsVlio come up from the country for the ' best advice' for tliis complaint , find that in town they suddenly lose their asthma , and are somewhat disappointed that

tliey cannot show their doctor the effect of a fit upon them . In many cases , however , they learn that the true doctor is city airthe worst city air , moreover , is generally the best for them . Thames-street atmosphere is particularly efficacious , and some even pick out thefoggiest , densest , foulest lanes of Lambeth or Bermondsey as to them the balmiest , most life-giving of neighbourhoods . There are more extraordinary instances of idiosyncratic susceptibilities on the part of the air-tubes of some persons than even

those examples would imply . For instance , some asthmatics can live at the top of a street hi perfect health , whilst at the bottom of the same street they seem to be afc the last gasp . We happened to know of a patient who was more dead than alive at the top of Parklane , hut recovered immediately at the bottom of the same street and Dr . AVatson tells us , that he had an asthmatic patient , who could sleep very Avell in the ' Red Lion / at Cambridge , bufc could never rest for a m i nute , on account of his asthma , m the 'Eagle / in the same toivn . "

Mr . W . S . SeAvell , in his Free Labour in the West Indies , says of the island of Trinidad : — " Noiv that il has been fairly and fully tested , the advantages to the colony of this importation of Indian labour are so thoroughly established , that no one who visits Trinidad in 1859 , after having seen her and known her in 1846 , can hesitate to believe that not only has the island been saved from impending ruin , but a prospect of future prosperity has been opened

to her such as no British island in these seas ever before enjoyed under any system , slave or free . I am speaking of a fact ivhich isapparent to every one AA'ho Avalks the streets of Port-of-Spain , or surveys the splendid picture of cultivation ivhich the Naparima counties present . There , for miles and miles , you can travel over undulating land , rich with ivaving fields of sugar-cane . The smokefrom a hundred chimneys indicates the prevalent use of steam , and strangely contrasts ivith the pureltropical aspect of the country

y , checked as ifc is ivith dense masses of shrub or groves of mango , and fenced in Avith roivs of gigantic palm . The story that every Naparima planter tells is , that Avithin the last ten years he has greatly extended and improved the cultivation of his estate , and has doubled his produce . It is a story you can ivell bcliei'e , if , during crop season , you enter the mills and see an average of from six to eight hogsheads of sugar daily manufactured in each . This extension of culture—fullborne out bfacts and statistics—is

y y increasing every year , and the consequence is that every year the proprietary are demanding more and more labour . It is to be hoped that they will continue to be supplied through the means of a system beneficial alike to the labourer and his employer , and that the outcry raised against coolie immigration ivill not be allowed to prevail . "

The Rev . J . P . Dimock , Minor Canon of Southwell , Avriting in a recent number of The Relinuary , ou the Neivsfcead brass eagle reading-desk and two candlesticks noAV in Southwell Minster , remarks : — "Ifc A \ -as fished no doubt out of the lake at Newstead , when , I cannot say ; but I believe in the ' Avicked' lord's time . Ifc is said to have been sold by him as old brass ; this we can ivell believe , as he turned every thing into cash that he could lay his

hands on . Sir Richard Kaye , one of eur Prebendaries ( of Northmuskhara , from 1783 to 1810 ) , is said to have found it in some curiosity-shop , or such like place , at Nottingham . He himself , not his widow , gave it to Soutluvell . The Chapter Decree Book contains the following memorandum : 'April 18 , 1805 . Decreed thafc . the thanks of the Chapter be given to Sir Richard Kaye , for his offer of a brass eagle , which they will accept , and semi for , the first convenient opportunit . - ' Colonel Wildmanivho used to look

y , at it with eyes of extreme envy , and would have rejoiced in getting ifc back to NeiA'stead , gave me the following account of its discovery . The lake had been drained , and Avas being cleaned out . Besides the eagle and the two candlesticks near our altar , the workmen found tivo very large and heaA-y chests . Peremptory orders came from the then lord to fill the lake with water at once ; he ivas coming to Newstead ivith a lot of friends . The chests were therefore left , and nothing done to mark the exact spot where thoy lay .

Soon after Colonel Wildman bought NeAVstead the lake was again drained : there ivere then old people living who remembered the former drainage , and AVIIO had helped to bring the eagle and candlesticks to light , and had laboured in vain at fche chests . They professed to remember tbe spot , and were allowed by Colonel AVildman to make a new search . They were afc work for days to no purpose , poking in the mud with poles . At length one of them fell head-foremost into the mudand was suffocated ; and Colonel

, Wildman refused to allow any further attempt to find the chests . There they still lie , full probably of the Abbey plate and othervaluables . Colonel Wildman spoke ivith entire confidence of the candlesticks being found at the same time as the eagle . I knoiv of no other evidence as to this fact . They are not mentioned in the Decree of Thanks , or elseivhere in the Chapter documents , as far as