Masonic Notes And Qeries.

CHANGING NUMBERS OE LODGES . The History of the Eoyal Athelstan Lodge , JN O . 19 , by Bro . William M . Bywater , gives a curious instance of the taking up of an old number of an extinct lodge by a junior Lodge . The Athelstan took up the No . 10 of an extinct York Lodge in 1792 for which

, it paid £ 5 5 s . to the Charity Fund . Its own number , 159 , was granted in 1 S 05 to the Prince of Brunswick Lodge . Here is a disturbing cause in Masonic history . — H . C .

MASONIC LOGIC ; OR , MASONRY = EREEHASONRT ? Many consider that , by calling the designers of our old cathedrals " speculative Masons , " and calling the craftsmen who executed the work " operative Masons , " they thus show evidence of the existence of Freemasonry or " speculative Masonry" six

, say . or seven centuries ago ; hut such logic Avon't stand , simply because conceiving the design and drawing it out was as much a needful portion of the work as laying the foundations ; and , so far as the 13 th century craftsmen or designers Avere concerned , the one had about as much to do Avith our present "

Freemasonry " as the other ; neither having the least idea of such a thing . And , as may be seen by the extract at page 308 of the Magazine , Avhich I gave from the Spalding Club ivork , the " maister of wark" some times executed in his own person the duties of designer and operative at one and the same time , as

the extract says , " to do al car concerning the said Avark that accordis til a maister of wark , baith in labouring of his awyn personn , devysing , " & c . The fact of the matter is , as it seems to me , our " Ereemasonry " is a new institution , with new ideas , which sprang into life about the beginning of last century . Only , as the old operative Masonic lodge was chosen as the stem upon which to graft this new idea , said operative lodge therefore considers itself

entitled m some measure to be regarded as the parent of the young idea . However , a man ' s age does not count from the time Avhen his father AA'as born , but from , the time Avhen ho was born himself , consequently the real age of " Freemasonry , " per se , counts from the time when the aforesaid grafting took place .

A peasant might have a son who might rise to be a king and the founder of a race of kings of his own blood , yet said king ' s successors would have no right to date the establishment of their line any further hack than the election or coronation of their founder —the peasant's son .

The similarity in the nomenclature , which was adopted by the founders of our system of Freemasonry , and which assisted in giving it a better start , has tended to the current confusion of ideas . Further , many ideas , & c , which had been in use in bye-gone timesamongst long extinct societiesbeing

, , sought out and incorporated with the neAV institution , has misled many , causing them to consider that said institution itself ( i . e ., Freemasonry ) must therefore be old ; but such is not the case , any more than the carrying away a lot of stones from the Parthenon and building them into the new Glasgow University would

make it , therefore , two thousand years old . An archfeologist could say , "the carving on these purloined stones must have been executed in Grecian times ; but , as we perceive from their surroundings ,

their position in situ is quite recent . " I must here close my present remarks on " Masonic Logic , " and beg to enclose the following poem on " Modern Logic , " which many brethren may never perhaps have had the pleasure of perusing . —W . P . BUCHAN .

" MODERN LOGIC . " An Eton stripling training for ths law—A dunce at syntax , but a dab at taw—One happy Christmas laid upon the shelf His cap , ancl gown , and store of learned pelf , With all the deathless bards of Greece and Rome

, To spend a foitnight at his uncle's home . Arrived , aud past the usual 'How d ' ye do ' s ? ' Inquiries of old friends , and college news : — ' Well , Tom , my lad , ivhat saw you Avorth discerning ? And how goes study , boy—ivhat is't your learning ? ' ' OhLogicsir ; but not the worn-out rules

, , Of Locke and Bacon—antiquated fools ! 'Tis wit and Avranglers' logic;—thus , d ' ye see , I'll prove to you as clear as A , B , C , That an eel-pie's a pigeon : —to deny it , Were to swear black ' s ivhite . '— 'Indeed ! let's try it . ' ' An eel-pie is a pie of fish ? '— ' Well—agreed . '

' A fish-pie may be a Jack-pie ? ' — ' Proceed . ' ' A Jack-pio must be a John-pie—thus 'tis done , Eor every John-pie is a Pigeon !' ' Bravo ! ' Sir Peter cries— ' Logic for ever ! It beats my grandmother— -and she Avas clever ! But holdmy boy—it surely would be hard

, That wit and learning should have no reward . To-morrow , for a stroll , the park we'll cross , And then I'll give you , Tom , a high-bred horse . ' ' A horse ! ' cries Tom ; ' blood , pedigree , and paces 1

Oh , what a dash I'll cut at Epsom races !' He ivent to bed , and wept for downright sorrow , To think the night must pass before the morrow ; Dreamed'of his boots , cap , spurs , and leather breeches , Of leaping five-barred gates , and crossing ditches : Left his Avarm bed an hour before the lark ,

Dragged his old uncle fasting through the park : — Each craggy hill aud dale in vain they cross , To find out something like the expected horse , But no such animal the meadows crossed : At length , beneath a tree Sir Peter stopped—Took a bough—shook it—and down fell

A fine large chestnut in its prickly shell'There , Tom , take that . ' — 'Well , Sir , and what beside ? ' 'Why , since you ' re booted , saddle it , and ride . ' ' Ride ! What ?—A chestnut ! ' —Ay , come get across ; I tell Tomthat chestnut is a horse

you , , , And all the horse you'll get!—for I can show , As clear as sunshine' that 'tis really so—Not by the musty , fusty , Avorn-out rules Of Locke and Bacon—addle-headed fools ! All maxims but the wranglers' I disown , And stick to one sound argument—your own .

Since you have proved to me , I don ' t deny , That a pie-John is the same as a John-pie—What follows then , hut as a thing of course , That a hovse-eJiestnut is a chestnut-Ziorse ? ' "

FREEBORN . It is much to he regretted that brethren will jump at conclusions instead of working them out . When in this country and others there ivere serfs , slaves , adscript ! glebas , villains , & c , in the country , and