Ears Of Wheat From A Cornucopia.

jinderstaading . By this glimpse behind the scenes . we are furnished with a unique instance of the -potency of the "baukett" in the burgbal economy .. < o £ the IGth century . MASONIC DEACONS .

Our accomplished Bro . Hyde Clarke , in a recent note on the subject of ' * ' Deacons , " remarks : — " The . authority for the title of Deacon is not yet ascertained . T-fc may have been got from Scotland , but I doubt it . X think ifc was obtained from some country guild ,

perhaps from York . " The title of Deacon , as applied to the chief official in Scottish Craft Lodges and Incorporations , is of ancient date , and is still retained by the latter . Mother Kilwinning continued to be ruled hy a Deacon till 1736 , when falling in with the style then adopted by the purely speculative branch

¦ of the Fraternity , its principal office-bearer began to be called "Master . " But as regards those mystic -sK-esengers of the east aud west , now known as iPeacons , their lodgment in Kilwinning has been effected within the last twenty years . Turning to

/ fche national records , we find that in 1-12-J!—and there . may be earlier notice of the official in question—the appointment of a "Deakon" of each Craft was for the public interest rendered compulsory .

Some Masonic Matters For Future Inquiry.

SOME MASONIC MATTERS FOR FUTURE INQUIRY .

. 27 , 'om the Manuscript of a Young Oxford Brother , recently deceased , with Preliminary Notice , by Bro . PURTON COOPEK . PEEU 3 HNARY NOTICE . A young Oxford brother , who , a few weeks ago

. &)! a victim to the cholera at a village iu the neighbourhood of Albano had access during the autumn of last- year to some volumes of the FREE" XASGN ' S MAGAZINE ( 7 to It ) , then deposited in a l-i & lf-furnished room of one of the towers of tho

chateau of Boutancourt , in the Ardennes , the sum-Tner residence of Monsieur Jules Duhesme , whom , many years since , a marriage made my very near relation . Our young brother examined these volumes with extraordinary zeal and diligence ,

and he extracted such passages interesting him , .. as he considered to indicate matters of present * 3 oK . bfc and controversy , strictly preserving * the laagnage aud merely turning the passages into

' q uestions . These questions he distributed and ¦ iira-aged under separate and appropriate heads ; ¦ ¦ ££ ii .-bji subsequently incorporated with them some

questions , not taken from the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE , iu the way described , but seemingly suggested b y his own mind , after he had read what the columns of this publication contains , aud also the article " Freemasonry , " in a " Conversation ' s

Lexicon . " Having finished his little manuscri p t , he entitled it " Some Masonic Matters for Future Inquiry . " This manuscript , by the author ' s untimely end , having come to the hands of his residuary legatee , an only sister , is in

compliance with her desire sent to the FREEMASONS ' MAGAZINE . Very many questions under the several heads , it will be seen , are substantially alike , there being only some insignificant variation of the words ; indeed all the questions may obviousl y be

reduced to a very small number b y any one who has turned his attention to the parts of Masonry to which they appertain ; being , it is fitting here to remark , parts of Masonry upon which , as more than one reader of the FREEMASONS ' MAGAZINE

is aware , the Past Provincial Grand Master for Kent has never ventured to look . C . P . c .

MASONRY AND TEMPLARY . Did not the operative Masons accept as affiliated members , and as patrons of their Fraternity , the potent , kni g htl y Order of Templars ? Did not the Freemasons receive from the Templars the

g ift of certain of their hi gh degrees ? Does ifc follow , if Masonry be not Templary , that our three first ceremonies are the invention of the ISfch century ? Did not the Templars , perceiving * the great value of the secret organisation , and

system of initiation , and probation of the Freemasons , adopt the same to strengthen their own peculiar institution ? How did the chivalrio

Chateau Frampas , Montierender , September , 1867 .

Order of Kni g hts Templar become connected with Freemasonry ? In what respects is ifc that Masonry and Templary are said to be identical ? Is it correct to assert that , since the Templars were compelled to fly before the malignant attacks

of their enemies , Templary and Masonry have been so closely entwined that ic is impossible for historians to untwist the thread ? Is Masonry the precursor of Templary ? Is the Order of the Temple a Masonic degree ? Is it not difficult to

believe that , afc the suppression of the Templars , their secrets aud mysteries passed simply fco the lodges of the operative Masons , and thence were handed down fco our speculative brotherhood ?