Masonic Notes And Queries.

CURIOSITIES OF COBBESPONDENCE . Lately , a Masonic correspondence , left by a deceased brother , has fallen under my notice . I should like to send some of the curiosities of which it treats , but hardly know if such " Notes" would be favourably received . One I enclose . — EXECUTOR . — [ Al

ppy Chaucer's lines : — "But me were lever my necke atwo , Than let a purpose that I take AVhat covenaiuit that ever I make . " ]

GODFREY ADELMAN . Who , and Avhat , was Godfrey Adelman ?— -A K . T . MASONIC ALPHABETS IN CYPHER . How many Masonic alphabets iu cypher are there , and where can I obtain any , or all , of them

?—A STUDENT . THE CIVIL AVAR IN AMERICA . "What has Freemasonry done to mitigate the evils of the dreadful civil war raging in America ? Is it powerless for good , or so completely prostrated as to present but little influence ?—E . C . L . B .

" GREEN GROAV THE BASHES , 0 !" "Wanted , a Masonic version of the popular song , " Green grow the rashes , 0 1 " "Will some brother oblige me with it ?—A MASONIC VOCALIST . THE DUKE OP MAGENTA .

Is Marshal M'Mahon , Duke of Magenta , a brother of the Order ?—!? . Q . —[ We cannot tell ] E . P . Y . ' S . In Bro . Saia ' s letters from ISTeiv York he alludes to a secret society among the Confederates rejoicing iu the name of the F . F . Vs ., and the eontext ' leads one to imagine they are Freemasons . My query is , are they , and what do the initials stand for?—A M . M .

POLITICAL PREEATASONRY IN PRUSSIA . In a well informed paper , The Guardian , of November the Oth , under the heading of "Prussia , " is tho following paragraph : — " The King of Prussia is chief of all the lodges of Freemasons in his kingdom . Of this position he has just taken advantage to transmit

to the Grand Masters of all the lodges in Berlin and the provinces , a circular , exhorting- all the members to remain "faithful to the king , " in the political struggles of the immediate future . The Grand Masters are requested to read the circular to their respective lodgesQUC ! to follow it up with personal

, exhortations of their oivn of a tendency similar to that of the document itself . " Sad , indeed , must be the fate of a monarch to he forced to appeal to his brethreu , asking them to be " faithful" to him ; but still more sad is the spectacle that the circular presents in suggesting that amongst those who ever should be

loyal to the chief authority of the state in Avhich they are born , or reside , there are doubts as to their loyalty , and Avhich are so firmly believed by their ruler that he is compelled to acknowledge his distrust of them . "Well read brethren know the part that Freemasons played in the medieval ages , ancl what they did to assist the Reformation ; but it is a sad fact that an Order like our own should , in the nineteenth century ,

be involved in questions totally beside it , ancl that the good faith of any of its members should be called in question by their Sovereign . Happily for us , no such insinuation , Avhether iu reference to the Crown itself or the constitution of the country , is ever likely to arise . "We are all patriots deeply interested in the

progress of the empire , and as firmly loyal to the Queen and laws as becomes those who cherish freedom , but oppose license . —C ... E .

SPINOZISM AND PBEEMASONRY . " Eoyal Arch" is correct in his conjecture that the MS . volume called "My Denton Court Jottings" contains extracts which may aid in a discussion of the question , whether a Spinozist ought to be admitted into Freemasonry . The volume contains many such

extracts . I select one taken from the " Dictionnaire des Sciences Philosophique , par une , Societe cle Professeurs et de Savants : " — " Jacobi , dans ses Lettresa Mendelssohn sur la philosophie de Spinoza , donne un precis du Spinozisme , qu'il regarde comme le systeme speculatif le plus consequent ; et il en conclut que

laphilosophie demonstrative conduit necessairement au fatalisme et au pautheisme , identiqne , a ses yeux , avecl'atheisme ! " Supposing Jacobi to be right in concluding the ultimate , necessary result of Spinozism to he atheism , there can , I apprehend , be no doubt that a Spinozist ought not to admitted into Freemasonry .

It ought , however , to be recollected that the disciples of Spinoza , in general , reject the charge of atheism with much indignation . Ifc is fitting , also , to remark that Spinoza himself , as his biography abundantly shows , was not an atheist , but a mystic . —CHARLESPURTON COOPEE .

BIBLICAL PBEEMASONRY . "What is Biblical Freemasonry , aud wherein does it differ from the received Freemasonry?—P . M . —[ It is but an expression . Mostly , the legends and circumstances connected Avith Freemasonry have the-Bible for their origin ; and certainlthose which are

y not fouodecl on Scripture history have the Sacred Writings as their rule of procedure . "Why not quotea whole sentence ? in such cases the context Avould very often help to decide iu what sense a phrase isintended to be used . ]

TENTILATION . Are Masons less dependent on air for existencethan other folks ? There is scarcely a lodge-room in London that has any system of ventilation . Why , if persons go to a lodge , is it necessary to stifle them in musty rooms , where windows seem to be placed for

every purpose but that of giving light or air . Privacy can as Avell be insured by muslin curtains as by deal hoards . "We are too far advanced in sanitary matters out of doors to suffer the abominationsof close , ill-A'entilated rooms much longer ; and if accommodation that is healthful cannot be

obtained , we must have recourse to some other expedient very shortly . The new premises in Great Queen-street appear not to have a particle of room to admit air , ancl light seems equally at a discount . "What are ive coming to ? If Masonry is Egyptian in its origin , that is no reason we are all to be converted into dried mummies , and find our lodge rooms no better than gasometers , and not quite so well exposed