Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

STATUTES OP THE OBDEK OF THE TEMPLE . I should very much like to know where I can procure a copy of the book on the Erench Order of the Temple , from ivhich you have twice quoted . I visited almost every bookseller of importance in Liverpool , but without success . —A .

OLD LODGE . To what has the old lodge called the West India and American Lodge changed its title ? It used to meet at the Queen ' s Arms , in St . Paul's Churchyard , on the 2 nd Wednesday , and on the 4 th as a Master ' s lodge . —J . G .

AVAS EDMUND BUEKE A MASON ? Can any one tell the undersigned if Edmund Burke was a brother?—A . B . —[ He was , and a member ofthe Jerusalem Lodge , Clerkeiiwell , then No . 44 on the register . ] BEO : Sl'LVESTEK HARDING . Who was Bro . Sylvester Harding , and to what lodge did he belong ?—E . HARDING .

EOYAL AECH SCAEVES . What is the origin , or what is symbolised by the red and blue silk scarves worn on the top of their ivhite dresses by the Scribes and P . S . of an E . A . Chapter ?—ELLA . MAEK JEAVEL . AVho is the author of the whimsical rendering of the letters engraven on the Mark jewel ?—O'PusNIDOS .

MASONIC MAEEIAGE . We have heard of Masonic christenings and burials ; was there ever a marriage at which Masons attended clothed in the regalia of the Order ?—C . C . T . LODGE COLLAES . What remedy is there for an evil of great magnitude . I am a ivorking Mason , and frequently visit lodges ivhere I

am asked to take office , but alas ! I never find a collar that fits . Some cut one ' s ears nearly off , or else set out in the front , and make a poor fellow resemble a pouter pigeon . What can I do to avert either of such evils ?—X . E . L . — [ X . E . L . surely cannot be a working Mason , or he would soon have discovered the most easy avoidance of his difficulty is to have a collar made for himself , and use it on any occasion required . ]

ENGEAVINGS OE THE ASYLUM . T I have seen , in several brothers' residences , views of the Asylum at Croydon . Where can I procure one?—SES . MASONIC SIGNS IN PLAYS . I witnessed a play in which a Masonic sign was given . Can auy of your readers tell me the names and passages of similar productions ?—ELTON . —[ We have been obliged to

mutilate this query . Can the brother who sends us the question be so indiscreet as to think we should allude to fche piece , and the very words in question ? We too have seen the same play , and recognised the sign ; but deeply regret its being so introduced . If we knew a hundred siich , or our readers forwarded fchem fco us , ive should destroy the answers , and leave ELTON to get his information from some other quarter . These pages are to inform , and elicit correspondence on subjects interesting or useful ; but not to betray what we have no ri ght , or intention , to impart . ]

KNEE BUCKLES AND SHOE BUCKLES . [ We suppose they did . Don't tread on dangerous ground . As you grow older in the Craft you AA'ill leam better . ] LAEGEST ASSEMBLY OP MASONS . When , where , and on what occasion is the largest number of Masons known to have assembled together ?¦— STATIST . THE EEV . LAWBENCE STEENE .

When or where was the author of Tristram Shandy and the Sentimental Journey initiated into Freemasonry ? Allan Cunningham , in a note to his memoir of Sir Joshua Eeynolds , in Lives of the British Painters , says : — "To poor Sterne there is an inglorious memorial among the nettles of Bayswater burial-ground—a wretched headstone , inscribed with the more wretched rhymes of a tippling fraternity of

Ereemasons . The worst is not yet fcold : his body was sold by his landlady to defray his lodgings , and was recognised on the dissecting-table by one who had caroused with him , and enjoyed his witty and licentious conversation . " Erom this strange note I presume that Sterne was a Mason . Is the "inglorious memorial , " the " wretched headstone , " yet remaining ? As Sterne died on the 18 th of March , 1768 , it

Masonic Notes And Queries.

certainly ought to be in good condition . If so , I will feel obliged to any brother who will copy tho inscription , and send it to THE MAGAZINE . I must say that the latter half of Allan ' s abusive note seems rather in contradiction to the first . —G-EOBGE MARKHAM TWEDDELL .

IVHAT CONSTITUTES A DEGREE IN MASONEY ? [ Inreply to "Ex . Ex ., " I would offer the following explanation of the passage he epiotes , viz ., " Pure ancient Masonry , " & c . The Arch having been partly severed from the 3 ° , as the Mark has from , Hie second . A writer in the Masonic Mirror ( if I remember right , Dr . Arnott ) states that the P . M . formerly belonged to the Mark . My own opinion is that

the Mark , P . M . (?) , and E . A . were formed as separate degrees by Dermott , and the section that split off from the Grand Lodge about 1730 . However that may be , I take it to be indisputable that only the three degrees , which originally included the essential portion of Mark and Arch , are above two centuries old , and that the 3 rd degree was the distinguishing characteristic of the Master of a lodge

until the beginning of the eighteenth century , when it began to be given to every Mason as a right , after ivhich it became necessary for something else to be adopted to distinguish P . Ms . The ceremonies ivith the three degrees of the E . A . Principals appear to ] be partly formed from the Ancient and Accepted Eite , and are not above fifty years old ; so that , although " pure ancient Masonry consists of but three

degrees , including the Arch and Marie , " they have at length in practice resolved themselves into ten degrees ( including the Mark and their W . M . ) . If you will allow me to append the folloAving , from the Ahimon Bezon ( established 1778 ) , it will perhaps be neAV to some of your readers . "This is the case with all those who think themselves E . A . M .

without passing the chair in regular form , according to the ancient custom of the Graft ; to this I will add the opinion of our Worshipful Bro . Dr . Fifield d'Assigney , printed in the year 1744 . ' Some of the fraternity ( says he ) have expressed an uneasiness afc this matter being kept a secret from fchem ( since they have already passed through the usual degrees of probation ) . I cannot hel p being of opinion that they

haveno right to auy such benefit until they make a proper application , " and are received with due formality ; and as it is an organised body of men who have passed the chair , and given undeniable proofs of their skill in architecture , it cannot be treated with two much reverence , and more especially since the characters of the present members of that particularlodge are untainted , and their behaviour judicious and

unexceptionable . ' " The folloiving extract from the same book , I believe , refers to the Mark : — " He ( Dermott ) now positively asserts that he is able ( with a few Masonica-1 implements , i . e ., two squares , and a common gavel or hammer ) to convey any word or sentence of his own ( or the immediate dictation of a stranger ) , to skilful or intelligent Ereemasons of the ancient Order , without speaking , writing , or noise , and that

to any distance where the parties can see each other , and at the same time be able to distinguish squares from circles . " Query , —Can any of your correspondents forward us an earlier reference to the Arch or Mark degrees . —A .

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

The anniversary meeting of the fellows , associates , and honorary associates of the Literary and Art Guild of St . Nicholas is to be holden at Stratford-on-Avon , on Tuesday next , the 23 rd inst . ( the day on which the birth of Shakspere is celebrated ) , when all fellows present are requested to wear the gown , hood , and cap of the guild . The hood is of crimson silk , lined with blue silk ; the

gown of black mohair cloth ( or silk ) , edged with blue velvet ; ancl the cap , the ordinary college cap , with blue silk tassel . Gerald Massey has just ready a new volume , entitled Haveloclc's March ; with other National Poems and Ballads of Home . A new Guide to the Isle of Man , by the Eev . J . G . Gumming , is to be published next month , for the visitors to Hlona .

A neiv series of fche Cottage Gardenerhas just been commenceii , in weekly numbers , entitled The Journal of Horticulture , edited by George W . Johnson , F . R . H . S ., and Robert Hogg , LL . D ., F . E . H . S . Tlie Rev . Frederick Temple , D . D ., Chaplain in Ordinary to Her