Masonic Notes And Queries.

anniversary . On the 3 rd of March the society was informed of the death of Bro . W . Wkaram , and it was ordered that "the day of his death be registered in this book of records . " On the 10 th of March a motion was made that Bros . Edward Bedford and Thomas Fisher , members , and Jas . Brotherton and Thomas Reed , " persons made Masons in order to be admitted members" and none of them having

, attended or paid their calls , the two former should be expelled as two " very unworthy members , " and the two latter declared as " persons not worthy of ever being admitted members of this Rt . Worpful and highly esteemed society . " On the 17 th of March Edward Bedford and Thomas Fisher

were " from that day expelled for their scandalous and unbrothevly actions . " It was also declared that none of the 4 have any right or title , as members or visitors , for ever , and that the two latter , J . Brotherton and Thomas Reed , " are hereby expelled with the utmost contempt . " Jas . Brotherton was also ordered to be paid £ 1 7 s . Od . for gilding and lettering some music-books . On the 31 st of March

, 1726 [ It must be remembered that the year began on the 25 th of March , according to the calendars at that time . ] there was an election of officers , or rather a re-election , for they each maintained their stations ; and had a balance of £ 10 14 s . in hand . Jas . Atwood and Thomas Barton were

summoned to shew cause why they did not attend , and Thos . Marshal , one of the founders , resigned his token of distinction . Bro . Oliverson ' s ( the host ) two bills , for entertainments , were ordered to be paid amounting to £ 1719 s . Od ., and the musicians attending were to be paid such sums as the Director ( Geminiani ) should think fit . ' On the 15 th of April wo find how much he did think fit , for Pardini ,

Scarpettini , David Smith , and the famous singer , Eccles , signed a receipt for £ 17 14 s . Od . On the 26 th of May the members were repaid their calls amounting to 461 ., and Bro . Gulston and others repaid £ 51 5 s . 5 d ., for which sums each signed his receipt entered in the book . On the 23 rd of June the Registrar was ordered to be paid half a year ' s salary ( £ 5 5 s . ) , and Bro . Oliverson seven Guineas for rent to the

up next St . John the Baptist ' s day . Joseph Murden , Esq ., attended , and was made a Mason . Resolved that the Society meet on Tuesday the 7 th of July , at the Apollo Tavern , near Temple Bar , to transact business of importance . On the 7 th of July it was resolved " That all new members do for the future advance and pay over and above their entrance money to the President as much as will be sufficient

to deli-ay their contribution and nightly expenses for the subsequent quarter or presidentship . " " Resolved that one hundred pounds be borrowed for the use of the Society , with interest , payable one year after date , and that the President Censors and Directors do give their bond jointly and severallv to such person or persons as shall advance the same . " Bros . John Cock , Isaac Thuret , and Joseph Murden

were ordered to attend on the 21 st in order to be inducted and admitted full members . July 21 st Bro . James Murray returned his token of distinction as a director , and his letter being very flattering , was ordered to be entered on the minutes . Bro . Joseph Murden was the only one out of the three summoned that attended , and he "was inducted and properly admitted a perfect member . " On the same day it

was recorded that the society were in want of the following , viz ., the Music of the Overture of the Phamaces ; The Mason ' s Old Constitutions ; A Copy of The Fundamental Constitutions and Orders , all of which had been bought and were ordered to be charged in the quarterly account . Bro . William Jones was chosen President , and Bros . William Gulston and Papillon Ball , Senior and Junior Censors . The balance handed over was £ 2 9 s . 7 d . —MATTHEW COOKE .

SPANISH KOsicatrciANs . Was there ever a lodge of Spanish Rosicruciaus ?—ELTON . —[ Your question seems to us almost incomprehensible . We have said , over and over again , Rosicruciaus were occult philosophers not meeting in lodges . But you refer to quite a different set of men . Illuminates were a sect in Spain that first came to notice between 1570-80 and although

, they , in common with all philosophers , cultivated alchemy , which may be said to be the elder sister of our present chemical knowled ge , yet they held themselves as beings of peculiar sanctity , and which not even the most heinious crimes

could sully . Hence they were enthusiasts who propounded right principles but committed the most fearful ' sins , under a belief that they , from their perfection , might do bad actions without sin . ] BELZONI A KNIGHT TEMrLAE . Taking up an old copy of the Magazine , I saw the

question asked " Was Belzoni , the Egyptian explorer , a Mason ?" I am able to answer that he was ; for he and I were both made Knights Templar , in 1828 , in the Encampment at Norwich , the well-known Sir Knight , "Daddy Coke , " afterwards Earl of Leicester , being Prov . G . M . No one who once saw Belzoni could forget him , he stood 7 ft . lOin . in height , and such was his herculiau strength , that he had been known to carry nine men on his back at one time . — W . SADLEK , K . T ., 18 ° .

KNIGHTHOOD . Iii a very learned little' book which is now scarce , and therefore prized , are the following accounts of some of the orders of Knighthood . The title of the book alluded to is An Inquiry into some of the Most Gtirious and Interesting Subjects of History , Antiquity , and Science ; by THOMAS Mora . Thinking these may be acceptable to several Masons ^ I extract them as follows : —

" Of the Knights of Malta—the Origin and History of that Order . — -. The Knights of Malta , or of St . John of Jerusalem , were originally called Knights Hospitallers , instituted by certain merchants of Amain , in the Kingdom of Naples , who , ' trading in the Levant , obtained leave of the Caliph of the Saracens to build a house at Jerusalem for themselves and pilgrims , on paying him an annual tribute . Soon after they founded a church in honour of St , John-the-Baptistwith an hospital for sick ilgrimsfrom which

, p , they took their name . The valiant and most pious Prince Godfrey of Bouillion , who took Jerusalem in 1099 , exceedingly favoured these Hospitallers , who , in the reign of Baldwin I ., King of Jerusalem , 1104 , added to three religious vows another , by -which they obliged them to defend the pilgrims in the Holy Land from the insults of the Saracens . From that they became a military order of knights , and wore for their badge a cross with eight points . In 1187 Saladin

, , the Caliph of Syria and Egypt , wrested Jerusalem , for the last time , from the Christians , and after the Kingdom of the Latins had maintained itself there 89 years , under their eight kings . The knights retired to Aeon , or Acre , anciently called Ptolemais , on the sea coast in Palestine , until that strong fortress was taken by storm by the Saracens , in 1291 , from which' timethey resided in Cyprus tillin 1310 when they gallantly took Rhodes

, , from those infidels , and in the year following defended it against their furious assaults , being relieved by the seasonable succours brought by the brave Amadeus IV ., Count of Savoy . The Turks having vanquished the Saracens , and embraced their superstitions , and Mahomet II ., having taken Constantinople by storm in 1453 , under Constantiue Paleologus , the last Grecian Emperor , these

Knights became more than ever the bulwark of Christendom . Under the conduct of the valiant Grand Master Aubusson , in 14 S 0 , they bravely defended their isle for two months against the victorious army of above 100 , 000 men of Mahomet II ., the greatest warrior of all the Turkish emperors , who conquered the two empires of Constantinople and Trebizonde , 12 kingdoms ,, and 200 cities . But Solyman II ., surnamed the Magnificent , after a gallant defence made b y the knights , rendered himself master of

this strong fortress by the treachery of the Chancellor of the Order , in 1552 ; and the Grand Master , Villicrs l'lsle Adam , after prodigies of valour , was obliged to seek a new retreat . The Emperor Charles V . gave the kni ghts the Isle of Malta in 1530 . Solyman II ., in 1566 , bent the whole strength of his empire against this small island , but , after a vigorous siege of four months , his army was shamefully repulsed by the most memorable defence that is recorded in historyunder the conduct of the Grand MasterJohn de

, , Valette , assisted by the munificence of Pius V . The Turks retreated with 80 , 000 , while the Grand Master had only 6 , 000 men . The knights of this Order are obliged to make proof of their being nobly descended for four generations , both by the father and mother's side , and , upon their admission , pay 250 crowns in gold to the Treasury of the Order . They make three religious vows , conseqnently can never marry , and add a fourth , never to make peace with infidels . They observe certain constitutionsborrowed from

, the rule of the regular canons of St . Austin . Formerl y this Order consisted of eight languages , or nations , but-the English , which was the sixth , was extinguished by King Henry VIII . Each language was divided into certain Grand Priories , and every Grand Priory into several Commanderies . Servant-kni ghts prove their