The Stuarts And Freemasonry.

not be surprised to learn that the word was Ios , that is , sol reversed . But the English Freemasons having , at the establishment of Freemasonry in 1717 , declared in their slang terms " that the old landmarks should be carefully preserved , " did not invent any test ; and I positively knew a young American who was received

as a Mason , and as such sat in a lodge at Liverpool , his knowledge of Masonry onlj being derived from the above described performances , he never having submitted to the gross personal indignity of having been made in a Mason ' s lodge . I must apologise , for I really am sorry at having

taken up so much space in this journal with such a trumpery subject . As Carlyle , the historian , says of Freemasonry in his " Life of Frederick the Great , " it is a bog-meteor of phosphorated hydrogen , eonspicu ous in the murk of things . Bog-meteor , foolish , putrescentwill o' the wisp . Harmless fire , but too

, fatuous ; mere flame circles cut in the air , for infants , we know how !' ' Secrets of Freemasonry ! there is nothing of the kind . "When Lessing , the German philosopher , was initiated into Masonry at Hamburg , the master of the lodge observed , "Well , do you find that there is anything against Church or State in our

institution ? " " Would to Heaven there were ! " quoth the philosopher ; " then there mould be something in it . " WILLIAM PlNKEETON . ( To le Continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE GBAND MASONIC ALLEGOBY ( p . 124 ) . It is a great pity to find a brother so well-meaning as Bro . Henry Murray evidently is , making so very many mistakes in his remarks . He should get the Magazine for the last three years , which , though it might rather astonish him , would , we trust , in the end

enlighten him . —PICTUS . CEAET EMBLEMS . In Wither ' s "Book of Emblems , " A . D . 1634 , under the figure of a Craftsman standing with a square in one hand and a plumb line in the other , the author

says"We more should thrive , anderre the seldomer , If we were like this honest Carpenter , "Whose Emblem , in reproofe of those , is made , That love to meddle , farther than their Trade , " & c . We have no mention oi Mason here ; but further on , the author apologises for interfering with Craftsmen ' s tools , on the plea of being a

poet" For the Jlvses are in all things free , Fit subject of their Verse , all " Ci-catures be , " & c . In another place a woman appears with a square and a bridle , signifying Law and Discipline . — "W . P . B . " LUPUS" " PICTUS . " I most cordially endorse the thanks expressed by

Bro "Pictus ' ' to Bro . "Lupus" for his excellent articles on the Knights Templar , & c . Having the honour of corresponding with the gifted author , it is but natural for me to wish that his readers had the same advantages as myself , in accepting his statement and opinions as authoritative and of value , from actual hnoioledye of his high standing in Great Britain as a zealous , learned , and most intelligent Kni ght Templar . Were I permitted to mention the name of Bro .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

' Lupus , " I am sure every Mason would readily admit his opportunities and capabilities to be exactly suitable for the right understanding of the subject , and therefore I hope his readers will accept the articles as the result of many years' application and careful study of the records of the Order . —WILLIAM JAMES

HUGHAN . DEPUTY GBAND MASTEE MANNINGHAM ' S LETTEE . ' This letter is useful in two respects . It shows , ou the one hand , that the high grades did not exist until after 1740 ancl it showson the other hand , that

; , Speculative Masonry existed before 1717 . —CHAELES PuETON CoOPEE . GLASGOW CATHEDEAL . Against the wall on the south side of the nave of Glasgow Cathedral there stands an old monument

with the following inscription , upon a metal plate thereon , viz .: — " Heir ar hvreifc S < Waltir S Thomas Sr Ihone Sr Robert Sr Ihone and Sr Mathiev By lineal'descent to vtheris Baron ' s and Knichis of the hovs of Mynto w' thair

Vyffis , bairnis and bretherein . " and carved out of the stone above are a skull , two torches crossed , two mattocks ditto , two spades ditto , with an hourglass resting on the skull , aud a ribbon entwined . The following rather rough and hurried sketch may give some idea of their position , as they appear from inside a large shell . Wear the top of the monument the date , 1605 , is cut into the stone .

The Stewarts , or Stuarts , of Minto were , in several of their generations , Provosts of Glasgow , especially during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries . The style of the composition and grouping of the above emblems , also of those on Archbishop Law ' s tomband on our old 1684 boxare rather

, , different from those mere stone scratchings depicted at page 505 of the Magazine for December 25 th . — W . P . BUCHAN . EOSSLYN CHAPEL ( p . 128 ) . See pages 252 and 271 ante . It was founded in

144 G , and therefore belongs to the fifteenth century . As to the square alluded to , "Henry Jeffs" appears to me to be making rather too much of it at page 129-I dislike to see Freemasons attempting to make the public believe that they possess an infallible " royal road to learning . " —AY . P . BUCHAN .