Masonic Notes And Queries.

THE EARL OP CHESTERFIELD . Was the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield , who wrote the Letters to his son , a Mason?—ELTON . —[ He was . See the History ofthe Grand Lodge of the JSfctherla'tuU . ' ] SCUUIEDER . One Sclircodcr established a pseudo-scientific rite in Germany , in which ho managed to mix up Masomy , magic ,

theosophy . and alchemy . Where can I find a good account of Schrccdcr?—H . E VANS—[ Sec Clavel , or Thory . _ Chalmers' FioycupliicoL . Dictionary has a short notice of him . ] . 11110 . GOODACRE . There was once a writer on Masonry , Bro . Goodacre . Who was he , when did he flourish , and what didle write?—M . M .

PORTRAIT OE BRO . SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN . A portrait of OUT distinguished Brother Sir Christopher Wren , tho well-chosen Grand Master of English Masons of his day , has been added to the National Portrait Gallery . It was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller , in 1711 , and represents our Most Worshipful Brother seated in a high chair , with a draft or plan of St . Paul ' s Cathedral on the table beside

him . His right hand holds tho compasses , and bis left rests on his hip . Although considered one of Sir Godfrey ' s best efforts , this portrait was sold afc the Earlof Bessborough ' s sale , ten years ago , for twenty-one guineas . — GEORGE MARKl 1 AM TW . EDDELL .

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

The Crilie gives the following remarks on the progress of mankind , translated from the Sivedish of Ahnquisfc . They are not without their interest to the Mason : — "Hitherto the universal striving of humanity on earth has been by grander and grander commune to knit various races together . ! N " o nobler commune can in this respect arise than that which is formed of peoples divelling in the tivo hemispheres—tlie so-called Old World , Asia , Africa , and

Europe , and the so-called Keiv World , North and South America . But in the epoch in which we live the races in the tiro hemispheres have reached little furtiier than an acquaintance ivitJi each other . Their nearer commune toward ivliolencss , toward unity , wliich betokens nothing less than the growth of our planet ' s spiritual life to one soul : this is a consummation for coming times . A harmony so universal cannot for a long time he more than foreshadowed and predictedseeing that the complete fusion of east and ivest in the

, Old World , the manifold connection of Asia , Africa , and Europe , is far from heing realised , though "begun and founded in the Middle Ages . To tivo questions of peculiar Aveight must ive direct our attention . . First , why the movement of mankind , as well in regard to the march of improvement as to the migration of races , has , so far hack at least as Ave can discover , been from east to ivest , that is

to say , contrary to the earths rotation on its axis ; secondly , whether the earth and the human race thereon , lA-hich in the totality constitutes the ideal principle of the planet , its soul , its spiritual life , can lie regarded as old or young—that is to say , whether , reckoned from the beginning , from the creation of the planet , it has reached such a point ' of development , such a lofty height , that it , in its energies of culture , is decaying or has not yet attained its hihest culmination . Our answer to the second

g question , supported hy geological and historical facts and indications , ivould certainly be that earth has existed many thousands of years more than had usually been thought ; but that , nevertheless , such a space of time for an object so large as earth signifies so little , that our planet may not be merely regarded as extremely youna-, hut that it has not yet escaped from the embryo state , if so It should be— and completer investigations are needed to demonstrate

it—wc must feel that therefrom must flow , not merely the ansiver to the first question , but in general to many others of ' the highest importance , ivhich anxiously occupy many of the profoundest thinkers on the destiny of mankind . " Mr . Walter Thornhury has commenced a series of papers in the Art Journal an "Artists and their Models . " The first of them , entitled "Murillo and the Beggar Boy , " has been given in the January number .

The eldest daughter of Signor Dupre , the Florentine sculptor , has recently modelled a half-length figure of her youngest sister and a small statue , betiveen three and four feet ItHi , of the youthful St . liernard , ivhich are much praised , Tlie n-ifted " -irl is only in her seventeenth year . 31 . Einile Signol , the I- ' rench historical painter , has been elected Member of the Institute , in the room of the late M . Hersent .

A Roman altar , in white marble , has been discovered in the grounds belonging to the brotherhood St . Jean de Dieu , at Lyons . It has been removed to the Museum of Antiquities . The ncAv bronze penny , from the hardness of the metal , and the thinness of the piece , is said to be the most difficult coinage which has ever been undertaken by the Mint ; yet sixty pennies a minute

are struck oil' hy one press . The Exhibition of the Society of Female Artists is to open early in February , in the gallery of the Neiv Society of Painters in Water Colours , at 53 , Pall Mall . A statue of Lord Macaulay is projected for erection at Cambridge . The Guarantee Fund for the Great Exhibition of 1862 now

includes 670 persons , and the sum guaranteed amounts fco £ 370 , 500 .. The Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have kindly granted a site for the building , on their estate at South Kensington . The manufacturers of Germany and France are already " up and doing , ' *' with hopes of hearing off some of the laurels . It is said thatevery eminent manufacturer in England n-ill show at the Exhibition ..

Professor Owen is about to deliver a course of tivelve lectures on Fishes , at the Boyal Institution . A number of fine animals have recently perished in the London Zoological Gardens , in consequence of the severity of the weather .. The noble Nubian lion , ivhich was quite well at night , was found frozen to death next morning . One ivould think thafc animals ,

which are deemed ivorth the expense of bringing from the torrid zone , would at all events he worth the trouble of caring for when they are safely landed here , even if " a righteous man" did not regard "the life of his beast . " The Architectural Society of Amsterdam has offered a premium of five hundred florins , with a certificate of honour , for the best design for a group of buildings , of a monumental character , with painted and sculptured decorations , suitable for the university of a large town .

An enterprising lankee , with more confidence in his OAVU mental powers than modesty , has at last produced what several have thought about , hut none been hold enough to attempt—viz ., a modernised version of the STew Testament . The name of this neiv translator is Mr . Leicester Ambrose Sawyer . He is no relation , webelieve , of St . Ambrose , though he is evidently a "top sawyer" in his way . The folloAA-ing is a sample of the neiv version of the

¦ Volume of the Sacred Law which is offered as a substitute for the fine specimen of English to which we have been accustomed : — ' * When , therefore , they had breakfasted , Jesus said to Simon Peter , Simon , son of John , do you love me more than these ? He said to him , Yes , Lord , you knoiv that I am a friend to you . He said to him , Feed my lambs . Again he said to him a second time ,. Simonson of Johndo you love me ? He said to himYesLord

, , , , , you know that I am a friend to you . He said to him , feed my sheep . He said to him a third time , Simon , son of John , are you a friend to me ? Peter Ai-as grieved that he said to him a third time , Are you a friend to me ? and he said to him , Lord , you know all things ; you knoiv that I am a friend to you . Jesus said to him ,. Feed my sheep . I tell you most truly , that when you were young you girded yourself and walked where you would ; but when you

become old , you shall stretch out your haiids , and another shall bind you and carry you where you would , not ; hut he said this signifying by what death he should glorify God ; and having said this , he said to him , Folloiv mc . "

We are glad to learn that a number of literary gentlemen , and other admirers . of Shakspere , in " New York , have sent a beautiful piece of silver plate to England for presentation to our laborious and much maligned literary Brother , John Payne Collier , F . S . A ., in appreciation of " his literary integrity and private ivorth . " We trust that it is not the onl y testimonial AA-hich Pro . Collier will live

to receive . The Society for the encouragement of the Fine Arts have awarded their decorations as folloAA-s : —Mr . S . [ Solomon , for historical painting ; landscape painting , Mr . Vicat Cole ; Avater-eolour painting , Mr . Henry Tidley ; sculpture , Mr . J . Durham ; architecture , Mr S . J . ii'icholl ; and poetry , Miss M . Poiver .