Freemasonry And Its Opponents.

would otherwise fall on them , and preserve a worthy man from a pauper ' s lot . But irrespective of the brethren in their individual capacities , have , the Ereemasons , even in their corporate capacity , confined their charity to

themselves ? Let £ 1000 to the Crimean Fund from Grand Lodge , and a like sum to the Indian Mutiny Fund , to say nothing of the very numerous donations in smaller sums from A'arious lodgesand chapters throughout the kingdom , ansAver the question .

Then , again , would not the following paragraph equally apply to the large majority of members of j the various Missionary and Evangelization Societies as to Freemasonry , and yet no man of common sense will deny that those societies have done good in their clay and generation , in extendin g the benefits of

civilisation in remote quarters of the globe , though Ave fear not always to the increased happiness of the aboriginal inhabitants . "The sympathy of your universal philantrophists is gloriously obscure , indefinite , impracticable , and cheap ;

it may be indulged after dinner in an easy chair , on a winter ' s night , by a biasing fire , tbe curtains drawn , — consisting of a feAV rather comfortable sighs for ' the poor folks out of doors ; ' they cannot house all tho world , nor mount all the Arabs , nor give oil to all the Esquimaux , nor feather all the Indians . Such gigantic feelings end commonly in Liliputian actions . "

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

" AX INSTITUTE OE ICED MASONRV . " Who has a copy of a very scarce tract , entitled an Institute of Bed Masonry ?—TRUE BLUE . THE GBAXD MASTER ' S A'ISITATIOXS . If , as Beo . Stephen Barton Wilson asserts , all old IaAvs are landmarks , is nofc that one removed Avhich provided

" the Grand Master Avith his deputy , Grand Wardens , and Secretary , shall , at least once , go round and visit all the lodges about toAvn , duringhismastership . " ?—Ex . Ex . RiY . URO . LEVERT . In one of Dr . Oliver's works , the name of " oar Rev . Bro . Leverfc" occurs . Who Avas he , ancl of Avhat place ?

WlLEOHD . THE LEGEND OE HIRAM ABUT . Where is the legendary life of Hiram Abiff to be found ? The feAV notices of him in the Scriptures do not make up such a legend as Ave are taught . —ESTE . —[ In the Talmud . The Amsterdam edition , in 14 volumes , is the

best . ] VERIFICATION WASTED . Where does the folloAving quotation come from ?—" Yirtue is true nobility ^ Avisdom is the channel by AA'hich virtue is directed ; wisdom and virtue can" alone distinguish us as Freemasons . "—E — [ The sentence is a part

of the lectures before the last hash—called by some a revison , but Avhich is about the most silly adaptation oi beautiful thoughts , language , and imagery , into inflated bombast , that is possible . The new lectures by Dr .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Hemming , are very poor in comparison , and not at all Avorthy of being classed Avith the old . ] THE THREE WHITE EAGLES . Where is a lodge to be found , named The Three White Eagles ? In an old memorandum book is an entry , — " see the history of the lodge of the "Three White Eagles . " I should like to knoAV something about it . —P . C .

BRO . DUNCKERLEY ' S APPOINTMENTS . What appointments did the celebrated Bro . Dunckerley hold in Craft Masonry ?—EAST ANGLIAN . —[ Prov . G . M . for the counties of Essex , Wilts , and Dorset . ] LE PETITE AUCJIITECTE . A French brother tells me there is a supplementary

FelloAV-craft ' s degree , sometimes used in France , called Le Petite Architects . Is it the mark-degree under another name ?—E . F . R . —[ No : they have nothing in common . ]

CEREMONIAL COINCIDENCES Coincidences like the folloAving are Avorthy of note : — In the Canonisation of Saints , tbe Pope thrice solicits the prayers of the church , and struck Avith a divine ray ,, announces tho same . In a particular part of the ceremony of the sublime degree , according to the Ancient Rite , tho Master similarly prayed for Divine light , and . suddenly possessed of the same , announced that other means having failed , the " Grip of the Lion of the tribe of Judah" Avould raise the candidate . —A

THE OLD LECTURES AND SS . JOHN . I offer the following as a note . In the Old Lecture * the tAvo SS . John arc thus alluded to . Q . " What is thechief reason Avhy our lodges are dedicated to SS . John ?—A . In tbe time of the Palestine Avars , the Masonic Knights , having united Avith those of S . John of Jerusalem , to fight against the infidels , they placed themselves

under the protection of tbat Saint , and proving victorious in battle , they agreed , after returning thanks to God , that the lodges of Masons should for ever be dedicated to God aud holy S . John . —KNIGHT TEMPLAR .

THE ARK OE THE COVENANT . Are there any lodges in possesion of the ancient " Lodgo , " mentioned in Oliver and Preston ' s works , A'iz .: A representation of the Ark of the Jetcish Covenant ?—P . S-—[ We should think so—though Ave do not recollect ever to have seen ifc . Other brethren may have been more fortunate . ]

BRO . BENJAMIN FRANKLIN . A brother at Avhose Scliloss in the environs of Dresden I spent a couple of days in the autumn of 1822 , and Avith AA-hom I haA'e ever since been in correspondence ( not ou Masonry , but on a much less satisfactory subject , German Protestantism ) has sent me a passage respecting Benjamin Franklin , part of a long " Extrait d'une

Blanche d'Architecture du Frere Choslin , Orateur de la Loclge de la Constance Couronnee , an 5806 . " It seems not unfit for insertion in the Freemason ' s Magazine , as an . addittion to the information to be found in that useful periodical , the Yol . January—June , 1880 . The passage is as folloAvs : — " Le fondateur de la libertee Americaine , le divin Franklin , cfcait un Franc-Maijon . Les principes

de la Maconnerie ont ete les principes de la Legislation qu'il a etablie dans sa patrie . Dans cette sublime creation , on a A'u conserver jusqu'aux noms dont nous faisons usage . La ville principale de cetlc Republique s ' appelle Philadelphie , qui veut dire ville des Freres ; et pour signaler encore plus quelle avait etc l'influence de notre institutionFranklin a donnc pavilion

sage , pour aux Etats-Unis , des etoiles sur un fond azure fcelles qu ' on les voifc sur les voules de nos temples ; et les emblemes de la Franc-Maconnerie flottens surtoutes les mers , pavilion revere des plus puissantes nations de rUiiivers . "—CHARLES PURTON COOPER , Chateau Frampas , 4 th June 1862 .