Masonic Notes And Queries.

communication of mine in THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE is quoted . In this note , from the London Daily Journal , of May 8 th , 1736 , it is said that at St . Alban ' s a chapter of the Gregorians had been constituted at the FloAver de Luce , at which were present the Grands , Vice-Grands , with their proper offices . This peculiar designation of the presiding officers , Avere evidently derived by the Odd Fellows from this older source , and how much more ?—HYDE CLARKE . —Smyrna , 26 th January , 1863 .

SECRET SOCIETIES IN GREECE . DR . KNIPE . Will Bro . Woodford , Avho replies to Bro . Hyde Clarke , about Dr . Knipe , inform us when Thomas Knipo Avas made a Doctor , and of what faculty ? In Wood's Fasti Oxoniensis , vol . iv ., col . 643 , the only references made to Knipe are— " 1660 , Feb . 22 . Tho . Knipe of Ch . Ch . Bachelor

, , of Arts . " " 1663 , Dec . 1 . Tho Knipe of Ch . Ch ., Master of Arts . " When random assertions are made , nothing but references to the sources of information can set them to rights . —M . A . OXON . A letter from Athens , dated the 23 rd ult ., says : " In a country which has known , even in the best of times , so little of the rule of laAV , the idea of association for

selfdefence must needs take strong root . From half-a-dozen to a score of men unite for the purpose of forming an offensive and defensive alliance or fraternity against all comers . They vow to stand by each other in good and bad luck , to espouse each other ' s quarrels , and to defend each other mutually . The number of members once fixed , the first care is to find a woman to act the part of sister , a priest to perform the mystic rites of this peculiar species of Freemasonry , and some out-of-the-way church or chapel to be the scene of the initiation . There seems to be a

regular ceremony prescribed for such occasions . It shuns daylight , and courts night . The priest says appropriate special prayers ; a vein is opened in the arm of each member , the blood is collected in a cup , and every one partakes of the contents ; a special mark is agreed upon Avhich is impressed indelibly on the arm or chest of every member ; particular signs and signals are devised

to communicate with each other ; in a Avord , everything is employed to make of the whole thing as thorough and impressive a piece of mysticism as possible . Being a member of one of these Adelphonoieiai , does not prevent becoming a member of another , so that not rarely one and the same man hears the marks of half-a-dozen of these secret associations , being thus able to count on the

assistance of 100 and more persons under all circumstances . Although in reality nothing more than a measure of self-defence , so necessary in a country where blood fueds and the tendency to take the laAV into one ' s one hands still exists , these societies may easily be turned to political purposes , and there is little doubt that they have been turned to such accounts , more especially in the latter times of King Otho , when all regular means of political agitation wore either impossible or at least illusory . "

THE DRUSES , ANSAIREEH , AND TEMPLARS . Seeing that your able correspondent A has alluded to instances of A ery similar customs between the Druses , Ansaireeh , and Templars , the additional notes given below may be of use to him . Sir Knight the Earl of Carnarvon in his Becollections of the Druses , states , at page 94 : —

"The military Orders of Christendom contracted , as we know , some tinge of Orientalism , the Oriental tribes of Lebanon may , in turn , have caught the colouring of Christianity . Frederick II . was falsely accused of being a convert to Mahommedanism ; the chief of the assassins * certainly offered to Amalrick , King of Jerusalem , to embrace Christianity , together with his people , on the remission of a tribute ; and the Templars themselves have been accused successively of an affinity , if not identity

with the Ismaelis or assassins , f of Gnosticism , ! of fire-baptisms , and of a worship of the serpent—charges Avhich , though not sufficient in themselves to establish the connection of Christian and Druse , might yet perhaps open a plausible field of speculation . ' ^

In the late Rev . S . Lyde ' s Avork , The Asian Mystery , are the subjoined passages , which hear very strongly on the subject . The Rev . author is a good authority for us to quote , as there can be no doubt he wrote with a strong hostility to Freemasonry as can be amply seen by the quotations which follow : —

" In fact , the Falamite caliphs were Ismaeleeh , and they gave every encouragement to the extension of the Ismaelee Association , and conferred office only on those who had been initiated into its mysteries . An Ismaelee lodge was established at Kairwan , and afterwards removed with the court to Cairo . Assemblies were convened twice a week , on Mondays and Wednesdays , by the Dai-al-Doater , Chief Dai , and were frequented both by men and women . They had a lodge called the Dar-il-Likmeh

, Avhich was well furnished with professors , hooks , & c , and at the lectures and disputations the caliphs frequently attended . The professors wore khalaas , or robes , and Von Hammer asserts that the gowns of the English universities have ' still the original form of the Arabic khalaa or kaftan , p . 38 . # * * # " In this vicinity live the people called Assassins , who do not believe in the tenets of Mohammedanism , but in those of one

whom they consider like unto the prophet Karmath . They fulfil whatever he commands them , whether it be a matter of life or death . He goes by the name of the Sheikh-il-Hasheesheen , or the Old Man , by whose command all the cities of these mountains are regulated . His residence is in the city of Kadmoos . They are at war with the Christians , called Franks , and Avith . the Count of Tripoli ( page 59 , Ed . Asher ) . William of Tyre ,

the famous historian of the Crusades , who died A . D . 1183 , mentions , under A . D . 1169-1173 , that the 'Assassins' had ten castles ' around the bishopric of Antaraclus , ' and that their number was 60 , 000 , or more . He speaks also of the 'Fratres Militias Templi , '

who had castles bordering on their territory , and of the tribute of two thousand pieces of gold , which they exacted yearly from the Assassins . All this in giving an account of an embassy sent by the Assassins to the King of Jerusalem , Amaury , iiromising to become Christians if the tribute annually paid to the Templars were remitted to them . On his return , the ambassador was slain by a Templar , who was protected by the Grand Master and the Orderfor they had heard of the request of the

Assas-, sins ( Lib . XV . pp . 31 , 32 ) . "Jacob de Vitriaco , who was bishop of Acre under William , and who died A . D . 1213 , writing of the same event , speaks of the Assassins as living near Tartosa , and exceeding in number 40 , 000 . He says that they paid 2000 pieces of gold annually as tribute to the Templai-s , that they might dwell in security , since the Templars by their proximity , were able to do them much harm .

He continues : They are for the most part Mohammedans , 'but say that they have a certain hidden law , -which it is not lawful for any one to reveal , except to their children when they come to adult age . ' He adds that the women and children say that they believe in the religion of their relations without , knowing it ; and that if any son were to reveal the law to his mother , he would be killed without mercy . H pp . 42—13 * * *

" In A . D . 1250 , the Old Man of the Mountain sent to demand a present from Louis IX ., at Acre ; but the Templars and Hospitallers sent back demanding a present for the king and obtained it . " But now the power of the Crusaders , Templars , and Hospi-