Masonic Notes And Queries.

EEATEBNITY OE STONEMASONS ( o-EEMANx ) . Bro . Findel thinks that " we are justified in supposing that the fraternity of stonemasons ( Germany ) existed at the time of the erection of the Cathedrals of Hildesheim , 1061 ; of Nanmberg , Spire , Bamberg , & C . "—ClIAEEES PUETON Cooi'EE .

A CUSTOM OE OTJE LODGES OE LAST CENTTTET . A letter from the Grand Lodge of England to the Grand Lodge of Holland , December , 1756 , preserved in the archives of the Hague , shows that in the middle of the last century' it was the custom of our lodges to drink the healths of the Emperor of Germany and the King of Prussia , as foreign brothers of distinction . —CHAELES PUETON COOPEE .

THE EIVE-POINTED STAB ON THE AMEEICAN ELAG . The ( American ) Masonic JBcview asks , Can any of our Masonic historians or antiquarians tell when and where the five-pointed star originated , or how it became an emblem in the third degree ? Was it called into requisition to represent the five points of

fellowship , or were the five points of fellowship invented to illustrate the five-pointed star ? How long has it been recognised as an emblem of the Order ? Who can give us its genealogy , or tell whence it came , or when or why it was placed on our trestle board ? It is an interesting subject for investigationand would

, well repay the antiquarian ' s research . We find the star with five points among our emblems as far back as the last century . When Webb revised the work he retained it , and it is found everywhere in the American system . Was it on the early English tracing boards ? It is spoken of in foreign systems as an

emblem of Providence . In America , in the centre of the ground floor , it is usually referred to as "that star which guided the wise men to the place of our Saviour ' s nativity . " We know of no other explanation given it , except as a representative of the points of fellowship . Has it any other ?

In the construction of this emblem we sometimes find it Avith five points , sometimes with six , seven , and nine . It is always found Avith five points in the symbolism of ancient Craft Masonry , with seven and nine in the chivalric orders . There are modern

associations which use one with six points ; whether it has any symbolic meaning in that form we are unable to say . The stars on the American flag are made with five points ; so was that on the flag of Texas while that domain retained its national existence . Its form was copiedwe presumefrom those on our national

ban-, , ner . But how did it come on our flag , and what is its emblematic meaning there ? We suppose they were originall y put there to represent the several Stateseach star representing a State , ancl the whole constituting a galaxy . That flag with stars was first used in 1 / 15 ; now , was the form of those stars adopted from

the Masonic tracing board , or taken from the flag to the tracing board ? It is a little singular that the first American flag ordered by Congress after its adoption by that body was made by a Avoman ; and , stranger still , that the form of five points was her suggestion . General Washington was ou the committee to procure the flag . He was a Mason ; ancl if the emblem was then on our tracing board , he must have knoAvn it and been familiar with its form . It is said , however , that

he wished it made with six poinds , but the lady employed in making tho flag insisted it should lia ' vo hut five points . In an essay lately read before the Pennsylvania Historical Society , by William J . Canby , Esq ., that gentleman says that "he discovered , in ' tracing tho

history of this nation emblem , that the first instances when the stars and stripes were unfurled were at the siege of Fort Schuyler , August I 7 fch , 1777 , and on an occasion just one year prior to that time , the brig Nancy was chartered by the Continental Congress to procure military stores in the West Indies during the

latter part of 1775 . While at Porto Eico , in July of the ensuing year , the information came that the colonies had declared their independence , and with this information came the description of the flag that had been accepted as the national banner . A young man , Captain Thomas Mandenville . set to work to make

one , ancl successfully accomplished it , The flag was unfurled , and saluted with thirteen guns . When the brig Nancy was on her return voyage she was hemmed in by British vessels off Cape May . Her officers succeeded in removing all tbe munitions to the shore , and when the last boat put off , a young man in it ,

John Hancock , jumped into the sea , swam to the vessel , ran up the shrouds of the mast , and , securing the flag , brought it triumphantly to shore , through a hot fire of the British men-of-war . The first American flag , however , according to the design and approval of Congress , was made by Mrs .

' Mizaheih Boss . Three of her daughters still ' live in our vicinity to confirm this < net—founding their belief not upon what they saw , for it was made many years before they were bora , but upon what then * mother had often told them . A niece of this lady , Mrs . Margaret Boggs , aged ninety-five years , now

lives in Gerinantown , and is conversant with the fact . The fact is not generally known that to Philadel phia not only belongs the honour of flinging the first starspangled banner to the breeze , but to a Philadelphia lady belongs the honour of having made it . The house in which it was made still stand .- ;—Mo . 239 Arch-street ( the old -umber being SO)—tho \ y . t ,

, of the old row . It is related that when Congiv :-- . * had decided upon the design , Colonel George Po . * s and General Washington visited Mrs . iioss and asked lie ; . ' to make it . She said , " I don't IIUOAV whether I can , but I'll try , " and directly suggested to the guiitlciiieu that the design was wrong , in that the stars were

sixcornered , and not five-cornered , as they HIIOUW bo This was corrected ; she made the Hag , Conyrt-Sa - accepted it , and for half a dozen years this lady 1 ' unii . Jied the Government with all its national ( lags , having , of course , a large assistance . This lady was also tbo Avif ' e of Clay pole , one of the lineal descendants of Oliver Cromwell ,

NOTES ON MASONIC JOTTINGS . —Mo . 30 . " A Past Provincial Grr . nd Master" merits our warmest thanks in these chill dogdays , for his excellent satire on the vapid , sententious school of modern writers , presided over by that Prince of PlatitudinariansMartin Tapper .

, Por example , what an exquisite gem of satire is his serio-comic syllogism , that as the Greek and Eoman architects were philosophers (?) , aud as the operative mason is not a philosopher , although an architect ,