Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONRY IN TURKEY . THE following circular has been issued from the Grand Secretary ' s office : — AVORSHIPFUL MASTER . —I am directed to inform you that there arc several Lodges meeting at Smyrna which have been formed in an irregular manner , and which are not in possession of warrants emanating

from any duly constituted Masonic authority . From information laid before the Grand Lodge , it appears that during the late war with Itussia an officer in oue of her Majesty ' s regiments , who was said to be in possession of a warrant formerly belonging to an Irish Lodge , initiated several persons at Smyrna ; aud that having so initiated a . certain number , he , formed them into three Lodges , which three Lodges then assumed the title of " The Grand Lodge of Turkey . " It appears also that several persons who have been thus initiated have

subsequently applied to be admitted as joining members of Lodges holding- under the Grand Lodge of England , and that in a few instances they have been received , in consequence of the Lodge affiliating them not being .. cognizant of the irregular formation of the Smyi-nn . Lodges I ill informed that brethren so admitted eouid not be registered in the Grand Lodge books . To prevent . other Lodges being placed in a like position of difficulty , and to avoid countenance being iventhrough inadvertenceto

any g , , these irregular Lodges , it was , on motion duly made at the Special Grand Lodge held on the 2 " rd day of June last , resolved— " That the Worshipful Masters of all regular Lodges be cautioned against receiving persons claiming admission , either as visitors or joining members , on the ground of their having been initiated in such irregular Lodger , al , Smyrna . " And yon are hereby strictly enjoined not to admit any perron ~ o initiated even to visit your Lodge , still less to receive him a ,--, a joining Member , and you are to cause this notice to be read in your

Lodge , and recorded iu your minutes . By urder of the United Grand Lodge . W . M . Giuv ( Jr . AllKiCGrand Sec . /¦' rrrmamns' Kali . London ., Juln 2 nd , ISni ) ,

Reviews Of New Books.

REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS .

. Local Klymologg : A . Ikricalire Dictionary of Geographical Names . B y BiciiARi ) STKI ' IIEN CIIARXOCIC , F . S . A . 'Che taste for arcluoological and antiquarian studies , has certainly been developed to a remarkable extent of late years . Formerly the discussion of these and similar subjects was confined to the pages of the Gentleman ' s Magazine and the almost invariably ponderous and dry volumes which were the fruits of the learned leisure of retired minor canons and studious country

gentlemen . Thanks , however , to the general and growing taste for reading , the spread of education , " and the acquisition of a smattering of knowledge in the various branches of the arts and sciences , which ( whatever Pope may say to the contrary ) , has not seldom produced a craving for greater and more substantial participation in _ the power derived from knowledge—thanks also to cheap printing , cheap newspapers , and the removal of postal and other

governmental hindrances to the free interchange of ideasthe number of inquirers in these as well as other departments of historical learning has increased to a wonderful extent ; this result has been assisted also by the establishment of local branches of the elder learned societies , and by the formation of new bodies , having for their object the pursuit of studies , formerly considered trivialbut which the concentrated attention of their devotees

, , applied upon system , has elevated into real importance . Among the worthy emulators and contemporaries of the Gentleman ' s Magazines antiquarian and literary researches , Nol . es ami Queries has achieved a wide spread and well deserved reputation ; the Illustrated London News , and other newspapers , have also devoted a portion of their space to the same object ; and wc ourselves have occasionally touched upon those and similar points—a feature

in the Maga ~ ine which wc think has been appreciated by our readers , and one which , as space permits , wc shall still further developc . The value of national and local etymology , in a historical point of view , is undoubted , and the increased care that has been bestowed upon its examination of late years , has contributed not a little to clear up disputed facts , to settle historical controversies , and to

oven remove ancient and time honoured falsifications and prejudices . The interchange of newly acquired information b y means of the corresponding and other literary societies of the present day , leads to friendl y discussions which prevent their members from a continuance in the old established groove in which the solitary student is too apt to become settled ; and hence the works which are day by day brought before the notice of the historical inquirer , possess a real value , and contribute to the Hood of light

by which the readers of the present century are enabled to contemplate the history of past ages . Mr . Charnock ' s volume cannot fail to interest that class of readers whose opinions , doubtless , he will most regard- —those who seek for information . In the comparatively small corn-pass of one octavo volume he has brought together a mass of facts and authorities for derivations , which will afford substantial food for

the student , and matter for the discriminating critic . More profound works are to be found , as plentiful as blackberries , but few readers will deny that they have been interested in the one under notice—and that , as wc take it , will satisfy the writer . At the same time that we are giving the author credit for the production of an agreeable volume , we should be sorry if that particular recommendation from us should deteriorate his honest aud most

satisfactory labour in the estimation of a single student . Mr . Charnock " has . brought , together information which must have involved a surprising amount of research into old volumes and crabbed manuscripts , some musty , and others . whose hitherto undiscovered-treasures may have proved an unexpected reward to their disinterrcr .

Compilation , of course , becomes tlie chief element m a work of this description , and our author honestly acknowledges thec sources to which he is indebted . Some of the pundits whom he has consulted may possibly differ in opinion as to the particular antiquities of which they . treat ; and Mr . Charnock deserves ver } great praise for the judicious way in which he has adopted the sifting process to the materials before him . The book is not a

thick one ( some three hundred pages only ) , for which mercy , this sultry weather , wo sincerely thank this most considerate of archmologists—and from our own dabblings in that pursuit , we can speak of the Circean fascinations of the science . But though of a . pardonable bulk , our anther ' s matter is of a satisfactory quality , and whether wc wish for information as to the nomcncln - tare of our native town , of the spot , upon which our earliest

sonnet was penned , or our first vows poured into the ear of our first sweetheart ; where our first cricket match was won . or where the colours of our regiment were triumphantly borne iu the far east ; where science may have led us ; where the purest wishes for the present and future welfare of our fellow men may have guided the missionary footsteps of well-beloved brothers ; wherever the cntcrprize and gallantry of British mariners has

penetratedin the work before us it will be strange indeed if we do not find some singular derivation propounded for the nomenclature of the honoured spot—some fact unknown before connected with its well worn English name , or the confirmation or demolition of some preconceived theory upon the original growth of the much quoted name . In our examination of the present volume , we have keen

compelled io award to the compiler the credit of an extensive range of subjects . Prom . Jack Straw's Castle to Scbastopol—from Berlin , to Tartarus , wc must candidly acknowledge that we have learnt something new and valuable as to each respective locality . Some of our most favourite notions arc completely upset by Mr . Charnock ' s more or less logical deductions , and wc are free to confess that by his aid we begin to have a faint glimmering of the

real meaning ( philosophically considered ) of some few of the most commonly known names in the English tongue . "Brummagem . " thus is clearly shown to be old English , instead of Cockney .

"Birmingham , " says our author , "is found written Bermynghnm . Bermingham ; in the Letters Patent ot Edw . Al ., Brymymeham , and in other old writings Brumwycheham . Dugdale says the general opinion , seoms to be that the ' appellation Bermincj was originally taken from some ancient owner or planter there in the . Saxons' time . ' Others assert that the original spelling was ' Brmn-wich-ham , ' ( A . S . ) i . e . ' the broomplace dwelling , ' in allusion to the natural growth of the shrub termed broom on its situaudindeedthere arc two laces in tlie

neighbour-; , , p hood called Bromwich . This latter etymology agrees with the vulgar pronunciation , 'Brum-michnv' See Smith , Hist . W .-inv . AYe can safely recommend this book to those of our brethren who possess the enviable privilege of literary leisure ; and while wc arc confident that most of its items may he digested with comfort and profit , wc arc free to confess that the work possesses negative advantages in its capabilities for stirring up the bile , and

giving a healthy impulse to the too sluggish current of the blue or purple vital fluid of some respected and most worthy critics of our acquaintance , whose stock of knowledge is of so great amplitude as to overflow in most strongly expressed opinion of all those who write or speak in opposition to themselves . Some of the authors quoted by our author cannot but be considered antagonistic upon some minor points , but great care is exhibited throughout in the selection of the various illustrations of the names of