Masonic N0tes And Queries.

distant his abode , had a claim upon their sympathy-They accordingly transmitted to him . 820 for procuring immediate necessaries , and by great exertions effected his liberation . A SCOTTISH gentleman in the Prussian service was taken prisoner at the battle of Lutzen , and was

conveyed to Prague along with 400 of his companions in arms . As soon as it was known that he was a Mason , he was released from confinement .- he was invited to thetableoftliemostdisticguishecl citizens , andrequested to consider himself as a Freemason and not a prisoner of war . About three months after the engagement , an exchange of prisoners took place , and the Scottish officer was presented by the fraternity with a purse of sixty ducats to defray the expenses' of his journey .

AT a meeting of the Leith ancl Canongate Lodge on the 5 th March , 1829 , a visitor who was the captain of a ship , stated that when sailing in the South American seas , he was boarded by pirates , whose numbers were so overpowering as to render all resistance unavailing . The captain and several of the

crew were treated with rudeness , and were about to be placed in irons , while the plunder of the ship went on . In this situation , when supplication and entreaty were disregarded , the captain , as a dernier resort made the mystic sign " which none but Craftsmen ever know . " The commander of the piratical crew

immediately returned the sign , and gave orders to stop proceedings . He grasped his newly-discovered brother by the hand with all the familiarity of au old acquaintance , ancl swore he should sustain no injury . Mutual acts of kindness then passed between them ; every article that had been seized was restored to its place , and the two ships parted company with three hearty cheers .

IT is stated in the tenth volume of Alison ' s History of Europe , that a detachment of the French army was surprised by PlatoiT , who passed the Elbe at the head of the Cossacks , ancl took Jive hundred prisoners . In a footnote he mentions , on the authority of Sir Robert Wilson , that the French officer in command owed his life to the fortunate incident of giving the Freemasons' sign to an officer , who seized his hand just as a lance was about to pierce his breast .

THE same fortunate presence of mind , iu making use of the Freemasons' sign , saved the life of a gallant officer , Lieutenant-Colonel ; Tyler , during the American war , who by giving oue of the enemy ' s officers the Freemasons' grip when he lay on the ground withabayonetat his breast , sticeeededminteresting the generous American in his behalf , and saving his life . —B .

[ We have heard , or read , most of the above before , but as Bro . " B . " wishes us to insert them so as to give as wide a circulation as possible to the source from whence he takes them , we comply ivith his request . ]

" THE SECRET JOURNAL OP FREEMASONS . " In Grand Master Harington ' s address , inserted in the last number of the MAGAZINE there is this passage : — "In an article stated to have appeared in what is called the Secret Journal of Freemasons , on the Continent of Europe , and republished by a newsat Toronto

paper , very recently , and which I cannot resist quoting , though its absurdity is quite manifest , our Order is made to foster political plots and

revolutionary proceedings . Italian Freemasonry is said to be especially occupied with politics . Lord Palmerston is made to ' recall the British Ambassador , because the latter supported the Italian Lodges in acquiring independent self-government , thereby annihilating the secret English tribunal in Italy . ' And it

is then seriously stated , that' the English Lodge had had the grief of seeing the Grand Lodge of Canada separate itself from the Thames , and the political differences which have arisen between Great Britain and Northern America about Canada are directly connected with this lodge affair . ' I am stated , by name ,

to have excommunicated two English Lodges and one Irish , and an alliance between Canada and the United : States , is described to have been sealed ' by reciprocal visits and meetings . ' Whether you deem it expedient to notice such slander , I known not ; I give it a place to show that we are not afraid of the

poison—thebest antidote is our own conduct . We know that the avoidance of political topics aud discussions is one of our landmarks , not to he defaced or removed . " This may be news to others beside myself , and I should very much like to know where , and by whom , how often , and at what price , the Secret Journal of

Freemasons is issued . A copy of any number addressed to the care of tho Editor , for me , would be thankfully received by—A JOURNAHST .

A EIVE POINTED CHARGE . Stretch forth your hands to assist a brother , whenever it is in your power ; be always ready to go any where to serve him ; offer your warmest petition for his welfare . ; betray no confidence he reposes iu you ; and whisper good counsel whenever his best interests need it . —ANON .

DANGER TO FREEMASONRY IN NUMBERS . Look around you . See the many crooked sticks and rough ashlars , already incorporated into our Temple ; sticks , that have been so imperfectly and hastily prepared , that even the outer bark has not yet been wholly removed . Ashlars , upon whose surface

we can scarce distinguish the trace of the tools of the workman , whose corners stick out so prominently that ive are painfully reminded that they have never been adjusted by the working tools of the F . C . —the plumb of rectitude , the square of virtue , and the level of equality . See how they mar the beauty of our

edifice . See how the cement is exhausted in filling up the chinks between these half finished moral blocks . And then notice the army that literally besieges the doors of our lodges . What a motley crew ! All complexions , moral , mental , and physical , are among , themfrom the good man and true to the Sabbath

, breaker , adulterer , and blasphemer—from the capacious and finely cultivated intellect to the weakminded and semi-idiotic—from the man of hale and and entire limbs , as a man ought to be , to the lame , the halt , and even the blind . Ancl with what constancy and vigour and persistency do they push against

our door , in their anxiety for admission ! Truly there is danger that in opening our doors ; to admit one good man , a dozen bad ones may crowd in with him , and ere long our good name , ancl our very existence be endangered , if not utterly destroyed . There is clanger that in the haste to increase our number we shall introduce material mentally \ mfit for