Masonic Notes And Queries.

A DEPLORABLE REFUTATION . The exhibition of their own literary productions furnishes , alas ! a deplorable refutation of the assertions of those who , with excusable but ill-judging zeal , question certain opinions that have not unseldom heen expressed respecting English Masonic authors in

general . —A PAST BROYINCIAL GRAND MASTER . EARLY GERMAN LODGE ( p . 107 ) . In my opinion " the science , religion , and ethics of the early German Lodge were" not " equivalent to the science , religion , and ethics which , in later lodges , have received the appellation of Speculative Masonry . —W . P . B .

THE LODGE OE GLASGOW ST . JOES ' . I was not aware that Bro . Buchan had said anything so astounding in the Magazine , Sept . 12 th , 1868 , or 1 should have noticed it ' before . Perhaps Bro . Buchan will kindl y give us the "first-class authority " that corroborates his statement that in 1123 wooden

cathedrals were built in either England or Scotland . Bro . Buchan must forget that stone buildings have been also igne consumpta . There is nothing whatever in the Latin to limit the structure to wood . Bro Buchan apparently gives up the ease of England , hut one should really like some authoritfor the

statey ment that in 1123 wooden cathedrals were still built in the " Dark North . " A pressure of work has kept back my " Illustration of the Craft , " but I am now working upon them . —A MASONIC STUDENT .

COLOGNE CATHEDRAL . There seems to be every prospect of this elaborate work of the German Mediajval Masons (?) being shortly finished . We wish them all prosperity in their patriotic object : — " The progress made in the construction of Cologne Cathedral during the year 1869

was very satisfactory . The northern tower has reached a height of 180 ft . above the ground . The state of tbe southern part was so bad that a great deal of the masonry had to be removed ; 20 ft . however , have heen re-built . The scaffolding for 1870 is almost ready , and the stone required has been purchased .

The towers will now rise isolated above the building . They are to be built to a height of 30 ft . a year , and in 1871 the third entablature will be reached , where the octagonal lanterns begin . The restoration of the masonry is continuall y progressing , and , according to the assurance of the architectthe cathedral will be

, completed in 1875 as far as the cruciform ornaments , should the subscriptions amount to 250 , 000 florins a year , as they have lately done . The interior of the cathedral has been ornamented with stained glass windows and statues , though in this respect much remains to be done . "—PICTUS .

RECOGNITION OE THE HIGH GRADES BY GRAND LODGES . Why does Grand Lodge only print half of the Article of Union in question ? The Book of Constitutions states ( Kegalia ) that no jewel shall be worn which does not appertain to those degrees which are

acknowledged by Grand Lodge as part of pure and ancient Masonry . Is not this a tacit recognition of oilier degrees ? Tide also the " Regulation . ! for Eoyal Arch Masons . " -LL . W . L .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

BRO . TAKKEK AND THE JACOBITES . Speaking of the Cannongate Kilwinning Lodge ( No . 2 ) , Bro- Tarker says : — "This lodge 1715-45 , was a Jacobite Club . " Now I should like to know what authority he has for saying so ? An Edinburgh friend who takes an interest in these matterswrites

, me : — "The Lodge No . 2 was in dormancy for many years prior to 1735 . The lodge has no minutes prior to that date , but they found upon some writing in 1667 , in the Kilwinning minute book . " Again , what authority has Bro . Tarker for asserting that James VI ., " whilst residing at Stirling patronised a lodge

there ? " And if the Stirling " very old copper-plate engravings " are in existence , give us a copy of them . I am afraid their " very old " age is not much above a century , if so much . In short , Bro . Tarker ' s statements at page 68 are unsupported ana improbable stories , and the way in which

he advances many of them is most unsatisfactory .. Dp with facts , and down with mushroom legends is my idea . Legends for ever ! cries Bro . Tarker . An office-bearer of Grand Lodge remarks . - — "Writers of Bro . Tarker ' s stamp should not publish statements unless absolutely certain of their truth ; they , by doing so , perpetuate error and do injury to the cause which , £ presume , they have sincerely at heart . "—W . P . B .

GLASGOW ST . JOHN . I think Bro . Buchan entirely misunderstands the bearing of his interesting quotation of the " laws of 1598 . That law does not prove , as I understand it , that " Maister , " " Bellow of Craft , " and " Preintiss " wereeach and all , names of a classand not of a degree

, , but only that on a particular occasion and for a special purpose , "six Maisters , " "twa enteritpreintisses , " ancl the " Wardene of the lodge" were to be present , when a '' Maister or Bellow of Craft" was to be "

ressavit and admitted , and " ane essay and sufficient tryal of his skill and worthynes iu his vocation and craft" was to be made , and " his name and mark insert" in the " buik" of the lodge . This law was evidently to guard against clandestine reception , or the admission into the operative orders of unskilled workmen . But it proves nothing more ; it does not even

prove , as Bro . Buchan seems to assume , that "Maister arid Bellow of Craft" ate identical , . from these very laws of 1598 it is quite evident , as Sir E . Palgrave pointed out some years back , that the division of the Order into three degrees—Maste " , Bellow , Apprentice —was then , as it had been for many centuries , the

normal state of things . Bro . Buchan does not see that this law must refer to a special occasion and a special ceremony , or else the same law would provide , which it does not , for the "ressaving" of "interit preintisses , " also . It is quite possible that at some special gathering , or some special reception , all the

three degrees were represented , though , curiously enough , nothing is said about any " Bellow of Craft " being present . This shows as convincingly , that we must not lay too much stress on the terminology of old rules and regulations as decisive of points of controversy , but must take the whole evidence , direct and indirect , into our careful consideration , or else we shall certainly fall into grave error . —A MASONIC STUDENT .