Masonic Notes And Queries.

THE DUKE OE NEWCASTLE . In reply to "P . M . M ., " page 503 , I may state that Bro . the Duke of Neivcastle was initiated in the Apollo University Lodge ( No . 460 ) , Oxford , in February , 1832 , he being then Earl of Lincoln , and with him the Duke of Hamilton , then Marquis of Douglas , the Marquis of AVaterford , and Henry Gljmne , Bro . of Sir Stephen Glynnc . —A MEMBEK .

LOEP BXEOX . The American Freemasons Mirror ancl Keg-stone , thus takes us fco task : — " The editor of the London FBEEMASOXS MAGAZINE answers , in reply to a correspondent : — "We are not aware that Lord Byron AA-as a Mason . " Bro . Warren coulcl not have read the records of his Grand Loclge , otherwise he ivould tiai * e replied differently to

his correspondent . There are feiv intelligent Masons on this side of the Atlantic who are not well-read in the history of the Grand Lodge of England , from its formation in 1717 at least down to the present time . Lord Byron succeeded Lord Cranstown , as Grand Master , on the 30 th of April , 1747 . At that meeting were present , in addition to the officers and many distinguished members of the Grand Loclge , His Excellency Mons . Andrie , Minister from the King of Prussia ; Mons . Hoffman , Minister from the King of

Poland ; and Baron Beydesel . The record reads : — 'Dinner being ended , the Grand Master made the first procession round the hall , took leave of Ms brethren , and , being returned to his chair , ordered the Grand Secretary to proclaim the Eiglit Hon . William Byron , Lord Byron , Baron of Rochdale , in the county of Lancaster , GEAKD MASTER , of Masons . AVho , being placed with ceremony in Solomon ' s Chair , invested with the proper jewel of his high office , and having received the homage of the brethrenappointed FotherlBaker

, y , Esq ., Deputy Grand Master / & c . Lord Byron presided five years in succession as Grand Master , and , during his administration , provincial patents were issued for Denmark , Norway , Pennsylvania , Minorca , and " New York . " £ Had Bro . Hynemann been as well acquainted with general literature as with that of the Grand Lodge of England , he would have knoAvn that our reply bore reference to the celebrated

poet , aud not to tike Lord Byron who flourished forty 3 * ears before he was born . We make the same distinction between the Byron and a Byron as we should between the AVashington and a Washington . ]

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

The third ancl concluding volume of Mr . Eobert Chamber ' s Domestic Annals of Scotland , noiv in the press , ivill treat of the period from 1589 to 1745 , the year of the great Scottish rebellion . The valuable library of the late Karl Bitter , the celebrated geographer , has been sold to a bookseller at Leipsic for 11 , 000 thalers . A full-length portrait of the poet Pope , seated in an arm chair , with a lady ( who is not known ) in the back-ground , reaching

down a book from a shelf , has heen recently added to the National Portrait Gallery . It was painted b y the poet ' s friend , Charles Jervas , the pupil of Sir Godfrey Kneller . This portrait ivas once the property of Dr . Copleston , Bishop of Llandaff . A translation of Ecotte's Pictures of Olcl England , by Dr . Reinhold Pauli , is in preparation .

Joseph Sharpe , Esq ., LL . D ., Barrister-at-Laiv , will commence his lectures on jurisprudence at University College , London , on Monday , the 14 th inst . An excellent miniature of Queen Elizabeth , at the age of thirtyeight years , has been added to the National Portrait Gallery . It is the workmanship of the celebrated Nicholas Hilliard .

Pipes for gas , water , and sewerage purposes are at present being successfully manufactured in Australia from paper and bitumen " A roll of paper is passed through a reservoir of melted bitumen , " says the Melbourne Argus ; "it is then ti ghtly coiled round a mandril , and , when hardened , becomes a tube remarkable for strength , clurableness , and perfect inoxidability . " The pipes are capable of

resisting a pressure of 220 Jbs . of water to the square inch . A strong desire having been manifested in many influential quarters to render some service and encouragement to Mr . Hullali , late of St . Martin ' s Hall , a committee has been formed , of which Mr . Charles Dickens is chairman , with a view of cor . soliclfttin-r this

general feeling of goodwill . Mr . Hullali has devoted his best energies and acquirements , for some twenty years , to teaching vocal music to the people of this country , and tens of thousands , by his exertions , have been elevated in tlieir tastes and morals ; and we trust that the appeal on his behalf will be responded to hi no niggardly manner . The Corporation of Worcester should do something , for ifc is an honour to their ancient city to have produced such a man as Mr . Hullali .

The Horticultural Society is henceforth , by her Majesty's commands , to be designated the Royal Horticultural Society . A curious funeral custom in Vancouver ' s Island is thus described in a recently published book , entitled A Cruise in the Pacific , from the Log of a Naval Officer , edited by Capt . Fenton Ayliner : — " When one of them dies , his body is laid upon a raised platform or

conch , erected in the middle of his loclge . Here it is left for nine days , to be seen and visited by the tribe ; upon the tenth the funeral pile is erected , and a great gathering of friendly tribes and families takes place . The corpse is laid upon the top of the pile , the wife or Avives of the deceased lying alongside ; here she must- remain until the presiding medicine-man permits lier to rise , which permission is seldom accorded until she is terribly burnt . Even noAV her trials are not over ; she must collect some of the oily matter

which exudes from the burning flesh , and rub it over her own body ancl if the limbs ( as is frequently the case ) of the body contract from the heat , it is her duty to keep tbem straight , and all this in a blazing fire of gum-wood . Should the wretched Avoman get through all this alive , she has to collect any remnants of charred bones , and tying them in a bundle , carry them on her back , day and night , for three years , at the end of which time she is free to take a second husband ,- —a trial , I slionld scarcely imagine , likely to find many brave enough to attempt . " Mr . W . Theed ' s statue of the late Sir AVilliam Peel has been

placed in the Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital , lhe statue was commissioned by the Right Hon . Frederic Peel , M . P . There are worse philosophers than our friend Punch , as a glance at bis Almanack for 1861 AA'ill shOAV : — " There's a use for every thing ; Never throw a tiling away . Save corks ancl bits of string

your , They ivill all come in some clay . Keep half-sheets of letters fair . For your answers ; into spills Cut the others ; never tear Up , or burn , but file your bills . "

Ancl he bids us to " Live temperately , be abstemious , cultivate early hours , rise with the lark instead of going to bed after one , take plenty of exercise , don't be afraid of lots of cold water , make a practice of always being cheerful , avoid debt , draughts , bad company , bills , and ivet feet , and yon ivill soon get a frame cheap , and it shall be a frame , moreover , worth more than its weight in gold , such as shall enclose the very picture of health . " Punch ivould solve

riddles faster than all the Sphinxes in tlie world could , propound them . Many of our old lodges used regularly to hold their Masonic bean feasts , although the origin of the custom was a mere matter for conjecture , ancl the following one of Mr . Punch is quite as good , if not better , than any other we bave seen : — "' Bricks ancl Beans . ' These terms are very respectable slang . Tbey are of

Masonic origin . Both ' brick ' . ancl 'bean' signify a good fellow . A brick is the individual constituent of a loclge , ivhich consists of bricks cemented together by the mortar of good felloivship . Pythagoras , the Royal Arch Mason , forbade his followers to cat beans . This prohibition meant thafc Masons ivere not , by usury and extortion , to devour one another . Beau , a philanthropist ; a

beany fellow ; one who is a benefactor to his species . " Well done , Mr . Punch , prince of etymologists we shall propose you as President of the Society of Antiquaries . An agriculturist , named M . Forgeot , has published a remedy for tho dodder in clover . It consists of watering the field infected with a solution of two pounds of sulphate of iron for every ten - gallons of water . A neiv edition of the genial writings of Mr . Charles Dickens is about to be issued , illustrated ivith the whole oi tlie original