Masonic Notes And Queries.

A KNOWLEDGE , THE DESIRE OF WHICH IS NATURAL TO THE HUMAN "MIND . There is a knowledge , the desire of which the true Freemason regards as natural to the human rnind—a knowledge of the Great First Cause of the Glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth . —From a bundle of Masonic memoranda in Bro . Purton Cooper ' s manuscript collections .

BENGAL LODGES . A foreign brother , about to proceed to Calcutta , is mistaken in supposing that Bengal possesses only ¦ one English lodge . In my communication " Hindoos admitted into English Freemasonry , " Freemasons ' Magazine , vol . xv ., page 348 , there is a misprint

which seems to have misled my brother . " Bengal Lodge" should be read " Bengal Lodges . " My brother will find a list of the Bengal lodges in the Freemasons' Calendar published under the sanction of the Grand Lodge of England . The number of Bengal lodges in 18 G 1 was about thirty . —C . P . -COOPER .

VISCOUNT HOEATESDALE . —ERRATUM . See my communication "Viscount Holmesdale , " page 27 of the present volume . It appears by a second letter which has just reached me from the West Kent brother , whose first letter containing remarks upon Lord Holmesdale ' s absence from the

recent Provincial Grand Festival at Folkestane called forth that communication , that my brother is as deficient in the sagacity enabling moat readers to correct errors of the press , as the pages of the Freemasons' Magazine show I have found some other ¦ correspondents . My brother , instead of " What , as I believe its purposes to be , ' ' should read " What , as I believe , it purports to be , " and the modicum of ¦ difficulty will vanish . —0 . P . COOPER .

FREEltASONRT WITHOUT RELIGION—A COMPARISON . At a meeting which a correspondent mentions a poetic spirit took possession of some present , and the comparisons made were , as he has heard , abundant . There is one only that my memory , often better for what was said fifty years ago than for what was said

yesterday , can recall . A brother likened Freemasons without religion proceeding to civilise barbarous tribes to soldiers without sword or musket marching against a horde of armed savages . But this comparison does not please me . It may be sufficiently ¦ correct , yet it is not appropriate . There is in it the idea of violence , which , in juxtaposition with Freemasonry , is altogether out of place . —C . P . COOPER .

INDEPENDENT ORDER OP GOOD FELLOWS . 1 have a friend who has resided in America , and , during his residence in that country , he became a member of the Order of Good Templars , and I understand from him that it is a society composed both of male and female members , and that any

person fourteen years of age believing in the existence and omnipotence of God , and willing to take a ¦ solemn pledge to abstain for life from the manufacture , sale , and use , as a beverage , of all spirituous or malt liquors , and to _ discountenance their manufacture , sale , and use in all proper and lawful ways , are eligible for membership . They have passwords and

signs similar to Odd Fellows , Foresters , & c . They hold meetings twice in a month for the purpose of initiating candidates and transacting general business . The fee for initiation is 50 cents ; the fees for the other degrees , 25 cents each . —JNO . BLACICLER .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The * Editor u not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . THE W . M . ' s LIGHT . TO THE EDITOR Or THE FKEEMASOMS' MAGAZINE AMD JIASOXIC HUBOB . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I am not aware of a circular having been issued by the late Grand Secretary on this subjectbut I know thatiu 1833 the

, , , then W . M . of St . Michael's Lodge ( now No . 2 L 1 J , Bro . Kincaid , addressed an inquiry relative to the practice , and Bro . White ' s answer stated that the subject was thoroughly investigated by the Lodge of Reconciliation at the Union in 1 S 13 , and it Avas resolved that the W . M . 's light should not be

extinguished , and that the introduction of a lanthorn or any other light was improper . This must be aeknoAvledged to be the law . Yours fraternally , J . How .

MASONRY CONSIDERED . TO THE ED 1 TOB OE THE FREEMASONS * ATAOAZINB AND AlASOyiC MIBEOB . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , — -It is a great pity that , when questions of Masonic history or discussions upon Masonic antiquity are raised amongst us , first on one side then on the otherpersonalities are

intro-, duced Avhich have nothing whatever to do with the merits of the case , and put an end to all sober and serious argument . Can we not discuss archaeological queries , in a calm and dispassionate spirit , really and truly as Masons ? I venture , then , to re-open the subject to-dayas it appears to me to crave more at

, our hands , as Freemasons , than to be allowed to degenerate into un-Masonic personalities . The subject is a most interesting one , and deserves to be calmly and carefully considered . As a Masonic student , I am wishful to obtain all the light I can , and hope that many brethren more skilled than myself * will join in

the discussion . What , then , and that is the real question in dispute , is the historical position of the Masonic Knight Templar grade ? A " Knight Templar , " July Gth , 1867 , seems to claim for his Order the following historical authority , viz ., 1 st , that "the Encampment of Baldwinwhich was

, established at Bristol by the Templars who returned with Richard I . from Palestine , " is still in existence -, 2 ndly , That this encampment , with another at Bath , and a third afc York , constitued the three original encampments in England , " and that " from these have emanated the existing encampments in the British

Islands , and in the United States , so that the Order as it now exists in Britain and America is a lineal descendant of the ancient Order ; 3 rdly , that , in France there exists an Order tracing in unbroken line

from Jacqes de Mnlay . As a Masonic student , I venture to submit to a " Knight Templar'' one or two queries in reference to