Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

BOARD OF GENERAL TUIirOSES . When was the Board of General Purposes first formed and what gave rise to it ?—A P . G . officer . THE MOIRA JEWEL . Where can I see a drawing , or find a thorough description of the jewel presented to Lord Moh-a before he went to

India ?—Ex . Ex . UOYAL-AB . CH CERTIFICATE . What is the date of the earliest Royal-Arch certificate known to be in existence at the present time ?—LEWIS . MASONIC FUNDS NOT APPLIED TO MASONIC USES . I should be glad to be informed of the amount of

Masonic funds which have , at various times , been granted for the use of charitable purposes not connected with tho order ; the dates and objects of such donations , and upon whose recommendations it has been thought desirable to divert the stream of benevolence from its proper course ? —E . W .

FELLOW-CRAFTS . When did the use of the term Pellow-Crafts , as applied to Masons of the second degree , take its rise ? In all the early Masonic books they are termed fellows only , without the additional word . —J . A . J . DESIGNS FOB LODGE SUMMONSES .

Having seen various lodge and chapter summonses , none of which come up to my standard of symbolism , may I venture to ask for such a design which will embrace both a symbolic and material meaning ?—EITZ .

WAS DICK TUHHN A MASON ? Your correspondents seem to know of many men of note who have been Masons , can any one say if Dick Turpin was a brother ?—AN OLD PILE . —[ Is this in jest or earnest ? Has the "Old Pile" any reason to suppose such , a '' mail of note " was a brother ? If he was the circumstance is to be deplored , but whether he was , or was not , cannot in any way affect us . Perhaps some one learned hi The Newgate Calendar can answer the question . ] .

LIGHT AND 103 AT . What height should the windows of a private lodge room be to exclude the prying eyes of outsiders and yet admit the light without the intervention of blinds P Also what is the best method of heating such a room P—A . —[ Everything must depend on the adjacent buildings or space , and no rule could be given applicable to all situations . The best plan

would bo to have a double window , the inside one to be made of malleable glass ancl to fold back when not required ; with Cooke ' s patent ventilators , lately described iu this Magazine , lodge rooms may be lighted and ventilated , perfectly secure from " prying eyes . " To heat a room thoro is nothing like an old fashioned fireplace ancl chimney . It diffuses an agreable warmth , and ventilates the apartment better than all the whim-whams of inventors and the sickly smell of hot air or water . !

S . G . W . P . In a letter received from a brother , after his name conies the cabalistic addition of S . G . W . P . Whatdoesitmeanp—R . S . NAME FOR A LODGE WANTED . AVhats' a good namo for a lodge P—J . W . F . — [ That all depends upon circumstances . If you are very loyal we do

not know of a Queen's lodge . If patriotic we have not heard of a Hampden lodge . If scientific there is room for a Herschel lodge . If artistic a Turner or Reynolds lodge . If literary , musical , medical , or legal try Milton , Bulwer , rathe Cornhill ; —• Handel , Operatic , or St . Cecilia ; — Hunter , Jonner , or the Lodge of Health;—Brougham , Lyndhurst , or the Lodge of Equity;—If you are fond of Natural History the Unicorn is unappropriated at present , but if that is too old and you wish for novelty you can call yourselves the Gorillas . ] .

PLATE OF THE BOYS' SCHOOL . The Girls' School and the Asylum have both been published as lithographs . Has the same been done for the Boy ' s School ? May I throw out a hint ?—Many brethren would , no doubt , like impressions of each of these creditable Institutions , but they cannot get them . I suppose the stones are still in existence , with tho drawings , if so what is

there to hinder copies being worked off and sold to those who may desire them ?—A COLLECTOR . —[ A woodcut of the Boys' School has been published , which , like the original , is far from artistic ]

MASONIC RIBBON FOR LADIES . I am a Mason and a young man . I rejoice in a sweetheart who expresses her approbation of Masonry , and she wants something to wear which is Masonic . Is there such a thing as a ladies ribbon of a Masonic pattern ?—Z . A . Z . — [ The best thing you can do is to have your portrait taken and set in a brooch ornamented with the emblems . We

doubt your obtaining a Masonic ribbon other than the Royal Arch , without she would like to wear the Craft blue . If she be a resident of Scotland , you will have no difficulty in finding her a Masonic ribbon of any hue or colourevery lodge having its own distinctive badge . ]

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHIVALRIC AND MASONIC TEMPLARS . I am anxious to find a reason for the adoption of th . 8 term "Masonic Knight Templar , " in contradistinction to what Sir Knt . Shuttleworth terms in a late number of the MAGAZINE " the Erench Chivalric Order of Knights Templar , " the Ancient Order from whom the English body however transmitted , equally claim their descent was entirely

Chivalric , the difference made cannot surely mean that English Knights of the Order aro regardless of their vows , ancl why there should be more appertaining to Chivalry among the Erench body I am at a loss to determine . The fact that Masonic Templars , so called , are all Ereemasons is no answer , for the same is the case now . everywhere throughout the world . I hope the Graud Vice-Chancellor of the Order

will assign some satisfactory reason for the distinction ( invidious ) made , and if none can be given the sooner we assimilate the title and manner of working the ^ Order to that of Prance , Scotland , and the ancient system the better . —J

CHRISTIAN OF ST . JOHN OR MEJOLEANS . Is it known whether this sect who claim as their founder St . John the Baptist , have any Institution among them , resembling- Freemasonry ? They repeat prayers from memory , during which time the doors are closed , and proper persons placed at tho entrance , one of their jn-ayers is as follows . "John , whom Ave here worship as our father 1

( institutor ) , we beseechthee to be propitious to us , to protect us from every hostile power , and to enlighted our minds with the light of the true religion , as thou hast commended us to light these luminaries " prominence is also given to such sentences as "In the beginning was the word & c . " Dr . Oliver states , on what authority I know not , that St . John was educated by the Essenes . —A .

TURKISH DEVICES AND FREEMASONRY . Your volume of 1855 , page 328 , contained an account of a sect of Dervishes , whose form , signs , & c , were almost identical with Preemasonry . Thoy bore as insignia a white cube spotted with blood , to represent the death of Ali . No authority was given for the statement , and since then we are informed bBro . Sir Edward Bulwer Lyttonthat

y , , though he has made strenuous enquiries , he has not been able to find any traces of Preemasonry in Turkey . Bro . Hyde Clarke is an occasional contributor to this department , and a zealous Precmason . Ho would render great service to the brotherhood if he would set this question ! at rest . It was stated in the before-mentioned article that in Constantinople there are no less than nine lod the most

ges , numerous and important of which is called , Sirkedshi Jcckar , and that the Grand Master of Turkey is Djani Ismaol Lsholak Mohammed Gaede , * I would also enquire which or what Ali is it whose death is alluded to ?—A .