Curious Sepulchral Monuments In Warwickshire, Of The 13th And 14th Centuries.

interest and variety , of later date than the fourteenth century , to be met with in the county of Warwick , but these I do not now propose to dwell on , having limited my subject to a period not later than the fourteenth century .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

BRO . KOSSUTH . In his petition to tbe Masonic lodge at Cincinnati , he inserted with his own hand this touching sentence : — " Being an exile for liberty ' s sake , lie has no place of fixed residence ; is now staying at Cincinnati . His age is forty-nine and a half years ; his occupation is to restore his native land , Hungary , to its national independence , and to achieve by community of action , with other nations , civil and religious liberty in Europe . "

CONSTABLE OP THE WHITE DRAGON AND MACE . Where can I be admitted to the degree of Constable of the White Dragon and Mace ?—S . —[ We don't know , never having before heard of that euphonious degree . Sir Knt . Sbuttleworth , 14 , Bedford-row , may he able to inform — aud , perhaps , admit you , as he is supposed to be the hyper-ultra serene Grand Master of' all unrecognised Masonic degrees either of ancient or modern origin . ]

THE CHERUBIM . On the Grand Lodge seal are two figures of the cherubim . When I received my certificate , I asked the officers of the lodge I am a member of , one after another , to tell me something about tliern , but it was useless ; all I could obtain was , " they were cheruhims , and , " as I could see for myself , " used by the

Grand Lodge as part of its device . " I do not think it creditable to use a representation we do not understand , and to find those who ought to be able to instruct as ignorant on the subject as I am ; therefore , if you will explain the cherubim to us I am sure you will do some brethren iu my lodge good , besides enlightening—7 t . 7 i . Z ., Temple JSFewsam . —[ We will give j'ou some explanation of the cherubim next week . ]

SIR KNIGHT . Ought not we Avho have taken the Templar degree to he addressed as Sir Knight F When I was admitted to that Order I was dubbed by a secular knight , and told that from henceforth I should be called Sir Knight . A few days after I

received a letter from the E . C . of my Encampment addressed / Esq . Either tbe knighthood was , or was not given , and if it was I was no longer an Esquire—if not I was not kni ghted . Pray explain how this comes to be tbe usage which , as Lord Dundreary says , "no fellah can understand . "—CHEVALIER .

—[ In Great Britain "the Sovereign is the fountain of honour . "— Vide Selden ' s Titles of Honour . Although the Templars were an order possessed of Sovereign rights , those rights have lapsed . The days of chivalry have departed when one secular kni ght could confer the honour of kni ghthood on another . We live in a different age . Suppose we consider all men who have been made Templars to claim the

prefix to their names , what ridicule would they bring upon themselves ? Let us take as an instance a very worthy Templar we know personally . A . is a fruiterer ; if a letter was sent to him directed Sir Knt . J . A ., Fruiterer , what a hue aud cry would be raised in his street ! But no one objects to his being addressed J . A ., Esq ., Fruiterer , Street . It is

now common courtesy to style any well-to-do person an Esquire , although engaged iu trade . How absurd it would be for any one to claim to be called Sir Knt . under such circumstances . Again , the very prefix Sir Knt . would defeat tbe object . A knight bachelor or knight banneret—there are very few of the latter now , because they were made by the Sovereign or Commander on the field of battle—is always addressed as Sir John ¦ , or Sir John , Knt ., not Sir

Knt . John . Baronets , of course , are beyond the mark , because their titles are always giveu as Sir John , Bart ., thus indicating their rank most unmistakably . Tou are entitled to' be known amongst Freemasons as Sir Knt ., hut in your encampmont if a knight bachelor , or baronet , was to visit itwould not the assumption of such a title as

, Sir clash with one really so recognised by the state ? Stick to the Sir Knt . of Freemasonry in Templary . Out of it be an Esquire , if such is your status in society , or do not think it beueath you to be addressed as plain Mr . We , ourselves , have the right to be called Esquirehaving held certain "

no-, table employ" under the Sovereign which has given us , for life , the precedence of an "Esquire of the body ; " but we should be very foolish , indeed , did we ever refuse to be addressed as Mr ., or take the slightest notice of the lowering of our dignity . One of the rules of courtly etiquette is never to be

offended by any one addressing you under your proper position , as they may not he aware of it ; but it is a dire insult to offer a person a rank he has no title to , one above him , as that insinuates the person so addressed to have set up some kind of claim to honours to which he has no just pretension . For

j'our consolation remember the dictum of one of the most perfect gentlemen , who declared , "I would rather be amongst the upper ranks of the commoners of England than be enrolled amongst the lower classes of her titled nobility . " ]

GRAND CHATTER FUNDS . What becomes of the funds of the Grand Chapter of Eoyal Arch Masons ? Do they ever go to the relief of poor or decayed companions , or are they devoted to keeping up a costly executive ? What is the amount in hand ? It ought to be pretty considerable , seeing we never hear anything of its appropriation .

—A R . A . MAS ON . —[ We can't tell , and very much doubt if any one else can . The Grand Chapter is a very useless affair altogether , and , in a future number , we will show its origin and some of its abuses . ]

SECRET SOCIETIES ASH THE AMERICAN AVAR . Another phase of the struggle in America has just come to light . By the last mail from New York we learn that a secret society has been inaugurated for the purpose of erecting a third state , and although the subject is a political one , it is worthy of being made into a note , in Masonic Notes and Queries , for future reference . The St . Louis Democrat publishes a long account of the conspiracy for the erection of a