Masonic Notes And Queries.

by Grand Lodge and the Craft generally , cannot be questioned . He was a native of Oimdle , in Northamptonshire , and I should presume he ivas an attorney or barrister by profession . Although the Lodge of Merit ( No . 687 ) is comparatively a young Lodge , some of its members b y inquiry may glean important particulars relative to John Noorthouck . —HEKRY HADLEV , NO . 55 , Nottingham .

QUAKER FUEEJtASONH . In reference to the inquiry , made some weeks since , whether Quakersevcr joined the Craft , I beg to state that I initiated one about thirteen years ago . To avoid any misunderstanding during the ceremony , I first saw the candidate , and asked if he objected to take a solemn obligation ; he replied , that he could not use the words" swear , " or " oath , " or "So help me , God ; " but that he

was willing to make an affirmation which would be binding on his conscience . After consulting with the Past Masters , 1 administered the obligation , with such verbal alterations as met his scruples . —P . M ., No . 233 .

THE LION BANNEK IN 11 . A . MASONRV . Can any one tell why the Lion banner , used in the Eoyal Arch , is not painted according to heraldic display , viz ., that the lion should be duly crowned , and hold the sceptre in his paw?—¦ J . G N . —[ There are reasons to the contrary , which our correspondent should know if he is a E . A . Companion ; and if he wants to see the emblems properly depicted on the staves of a

E . A . Chapter , we would advise him to pay a visit to the New St . James's Union Chapter , No . 211 , where he will see them both correctly ancl artistically painted ; the latter being of some value in Freemasonry , in which we are used to any daub that conveys an impression of the shape of the object represented . If a visit to the Chapter in question be inconvenient , we have no doubt Comp . Platt , who so elegantl y fitted ifc up , will oblige our correspondent with a si ght of the drawings . ]

GRAND STEAVAEDS LODGE . Where can I find the earliest notice of the above Lodge , and ! ' shcir public nights ?—X . Y . Z . —[ There were two Grand Stewards ' ¦ Lodges meeting , the one belonging to the Modern Masons , being-No . 70 , in 1762 , and was held at tlie sign of the Horn , in Fleetstreet : its public ni ghts were , as at present , the third Wednesdays in March and December . The Ancient Masons had their

Grand Stewards' Lodge , or Committee of Charity , held at the ' -Crown , in Fleet-street , on the third AVednesday in every month , for considering petitions and relieving distressed brethren . For memoranda as to the early proceedings of the Grand Stewards ' Lodge , see Anderson ' s "Constitutions , " and Preston ' s "Illustrations . " ]

Literature.

Literature .

REVIEWS . To Cuba and Back ; a Vacation Voyage . " By 11 . II . DANA ; Author of " Two Years before the Mast . " London : Smith , Elder , and Co . 'CUIJA , a laud ardentl y desired by our transatlantic cousins , and at present a possession of Spainhas always had attractions for

, many the rambler . Iu the palmy days of the slave trade it was one of the chief marts for that iniquitous plunder , and many thousands of the African race have had to perish in order to feed the demand lor labour . But we must leave moralizing , and step on board with our author at New York , ivhich he loftier a short winter trip , the sea voyage there ami back constituting by far the greater . period of the vacation MrDana had allowed himself Our

. ¦ traveller soon got into the warmer latitudes , and as he tells his s L Y k ° th accurately and graphically , wc will give an extract , sitowing bow vividly he can presciit a scene which the imagination can realize . He tells us : —

thoro , indeed , is tho Morro , a stately hill of tawny rock , rising perpendicularl y from the sen , and pitting into it , with walla and parapets and towers on its top , and Hag * aiasl signals Hying , aucl the tall li ghthouse just iu front of its outer wall . It is not very high , yet commands the sea about it . And there is in the city on She scacoast , indeed— the houses running down to tho coral edge of the ocean . AVhere is the harbour , aud where the shipping ? Ah , there they tire' ( AVo open an entrance and between and the Punta

, narrow deep , Jhe beetling Morro ; and through tho entrance we see the spreading harbour and the innumerable masts . But the darkness is gathering , tbe sunset gun lias beeu "red , we can just catch the dying notes of trumpets from the fortifications , and the Morro li ghthouse throws its- gleam over the still sea . The -uttle lights emerge and twinkle from the pity . AVe aro too late to enter

the port , and slowly and reluctantly the ship turns her head off to seaward . The engine breathes heavily , and throws its one arm leisurely up and down ; we rise aud fall on the moonlit sea ; tho stars are neur to us , for ive are raised nearer to them ; the Southern Cross is just above the horizon ; aud all night two long streams of light lie upon the water , one of gold from the Morro , aucl one of silver from the moon . It is enchantment . AVho can regret our delay , or wish to exchange this scene for the common , close anchorage of a harbour ?

"Friday , February IS . —AA e are to go in at sunrise , ancl few , if any , aro the passengers that are not on deck at the lirst glow of dawn . Before us lie the novel and exciting objects ofthe night before . The steep Morro , with its tall sentinel lighthouse , ancl its towers aud signal-staves aucl teeth of guns , is coming out into clear daylight ; the red and yellow ¦ striped ( lag of Spain—blood and gold—( loats over it . Point after point in the city becomes visible ; the blue and white and yellow houses , with their roofs of dull red tilesthe quaint old cathedral towersand the

, , almost endless lines of fortifications . The masts of the immense shipping rise over tho headland , the signal for leave to enter is run up , aud we steer in under full head , the morning gun thundering from the Morro , tho trumpets braying , aucl drums beating from all the fortifications , the Morro , the Punta , the long Cabana , the Casa Blanca , and the city walls , while the broad sun is fast risiug over this magnificent spectacle . " AAliata world of shipping ? The masts make a belt of dense forest

along the edge of the city , all the ships lying head in to the street , like horses at their mangers ; while the vessels at anchor nearly choke up the passageways to tbe deeper bays beyond . There are the red ancl yellow stripes of decayed Spain ; the blue , white , and red—blood to the fingers' end—of La Grande Nation ; the union crosses of the lloyal Commonwealth ; the stars and stripes of the Great Kepublie ; and a few flags of Holland and Portugal , of the States of Northern Italy , of Brazil , ancl of tlie republics of the Spanish Main . AVe thread our slow

ancl careful way among these , pass under the broadside of a ship of the line , aud under the stern of a screw frigate , both bearing the Spanish flag , aucl cast our anchor in the Kegla Bay , by the side of the steamer Karnac , which sailed from New York a few days before us .

" Instantly wo aro besieged by boats , some loaded with oranges aud bananas , and others coining for passengers and then- luggage , all with awnings spread over their sterns , rowed by swarthy , attenuated men , in blue and white checks and straw hats , with here ancl there the familiar lips and teeth , and vacant , easily pleased face , of tho negro . Among these boats comes one from the stern of which floats the red and yellow flag with the crown in its field , and under whose awning reclines a man in a full suit of white linen , with straw hat and red cockade ancl a cigar .

This is the Health Officer . Until he is satisfied , no one can eome on board , or leave the vessel . Captain Bullock salutes , steps down tbe ladder to the boat , hands his papers , reports all well—and we are pronounced safe . Then comes another boat of similar style , another man reclining under the awning , with a cigar , who comes on board , is closeted with the purser , compares the passenger list with the passports , ancl we are declared fully passed , and general leave is given to land with our luggage at the Custom-house wharf . "

In perusing this work on Cuba , we are constantly reminded of old Spain , with the features of which we arc pretty well acquainted through the medium of tours , voyages , diaries , & c , innumerable ; so Cuba reminds us of Spain , with the addition of a tropical climate , slavery , and sugar plantations , which during the last quarter of a century have seriously alfected the social aud economic condition of Cuba . The first plantations were of coffee , and Mr . Dana says ;—" Coffee must grow under shade . Consequently the coffee estate was , in the first place , a plantation of trees , and by the hundred acres .

Economy aud taste led the planters , who were chiefly tho trench refugees from St . Domingo , to select fruit trees , and trees valuable for their wood , as well as pleasing for their beauty ancl shade . Under these plantations of trees grew the colfee plant , au evergreen , and almost an ever-flowering plant , with berries of changing hues , which , twice a year , brought its fruit to maturity . That the eolt ' oo might be tended and gathered , avenues wide enough for waggons must be carried through the lantations at frequent intervalsTho lantation wastherefore

p . p , , laid out like a garden , with , avenues and footpaths , all under the shade of the finest trees , and the spaces between the avenues were groves of . fruit trees and shade trees , under which grew , trimmed down to the height of five or six feet , the coll ' ee plant . The labour of the plantation , was in tending , picking , drying , and shelling the colfee , ancl gathering the fresh fruits of trees for use and for the market , aucl fur preserves aucl sweetmeats , and in raising vegetables and poultry , and rearing horsesIt beautiful and le

sheep and burned cattle ancl . was a simp horticulture on a very large scale . Time was required to perfect this garden- —the Cubans call it paradise—of a cafetal ; but when , matured , it was a cherished home . It required and admitted of no extraordinary mechanical power , or of the application of steam or of science , beyond the knowledge of soils , of simple culture , and of plants and . trees . " Our author Intel considerable facilities for becoming acquainted

with the working of the system , and g ives us the result of his experience in a very fair and honest way , so he says that it became evident that Cuba was not so good a place for the cultivation of colfee as of sugar , and the planters found their produce