Masonic Notes And Queries.

tho safety of their members , and for which the utmost privacy was required . This produced the oath of inviolable secrecy in nearly the same form it is now administered to the initiates in Freemasonry . Since , then , I have attempted to make it appear that Druidism aud Masonry bear so strong au analogy to each other , I should be glad to be informed why Masonry may not have originated from the one with as much certainty as from the other , and why it should not be , with as much propriety , the type of the religion of the Groves as of the building of Solomon ' s temple?—GEOUGI : DRAKE , Lieut , of Marines , Jan . 12 , A . I .. 5792 . "

THOMAS SANDRA" . "When the first stone of Freemasons Hall was laid by G . M . Lord Petre , the plate deposited , among other matter , bore this inscription— "Tho . Sandby , Arm . Architectural Prof . li . A . A . Architectus . " Was our Bro . Sandby eminent in his profession ? And can any one point out other edifices of Avhich he was the designer?—A MASTER BUILDER .

ROYAL AUK DEGREE . I have been informed , I know not how correctly , that at the commencement , of the present century there was a degree called the Koyal Ark degree , and that it was rather popular than otherwise . Will some experienced Mason tell me if it is practised now , and where ?—NOACHIDA .

EIELDING OUI . D , . TUN . Will an Irish brother favour a subscriber by transmitting some particulars of Fielding Ould , jun ., a brother who was Grand Sec . to the Irish Grand Lodge about the year 1770 (?)—J AS . Our . n FIELDING .

ABERDEEN ROYAL ARCH CHATTERS . Is there any Avay of establishing the time at which the Aberdeen Chapters Avere founded ?—J . G . . . . M . —[ We have before us the Laws of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland , dated 1815 ( wc are not aware of a more recent edition ) , but in that is given a list of Chapters AVIIO have taken out . charters from the . Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotlandand have proved that in the years mentioned

, they practised It . A . Masonry . Thc Aberdeen Chapters number on the roll- —No . 11 , St . Luke's , 2 nd Nov ., 17 S 2 ; No . 1 G , Old Aberdeen , 13 th Feb ., 1788 ; No . 20 , St . James's , 4 th Nov ., 1789 ; No . 21 , St . George's , Aug ., 1795 ; No . 37 , St . Machar ' s , 9 th Jan ., 1810 ; No . 41 , Operative , 30 th Nov ., 1792 . 1

THE SOCIETY OF . TOUN . I beg to draw your attention to an article called "The Annalist , " in No . 25 , of March 31 st , 1840 , of the Freemasons' Quarterly lieview , where you will find additional information for your correspondent "Ambrose . " —J . W . BREITI . ING .

FINCH ' S CIl'HEU . A short time ago I saw a cop 3 ' of Finch ' s " Masonic Treatise , iVc , " and in a very few minutes discovered the cipher employed in each part of the work . I could not for some time decipher the words on the title page , but after trying many different methods , I at length succeeded , and will now state the result of my hicubrations . I must first , however , notice that there are one or two

errata in the first three secret words as printed in the Magazine of of the 17 th instant . They should be Ziydrjx-yjpix , Zi / jisgs / n , Wxsl . ijin , which stand for Architecture , Astronomy , Geometry . The Avords t . ji Qxzf and Oiojjxg Qoicgzjpix , arc mc [ Masonic ] seal and written , signature . In the first part of the book the cipher used is formed by reversing the alphabet , Avriting . - for a , y for b , x for c , & c . This is somewhat different from the cipher used on the title page , as will be seen hy the subjoined table : —

For the title page . ¦ Ci pher a b c d e f g h i j k 1 m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Key b d f h j 1 n p r tvx « y w usqomk i g e c a For the first part . Cipher a b c d e f g h i j k 1 m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Fey z y x w v u t s r q p o n m 1 k j i h g f c d c ii a In the second part of the work a totally different system is

employed . The Avords may he deciphered by taking thc last letter , then the first , then the last but one , then the second , and so on ; two or three words are also often run into one in this cipher : for example , eree . lemlidrdoh is " lie ordered them . " In addition to this , the nine digits stand for certain frequently occurring words ; the same di git repeated denoting the plural number : —thus 1 stands lor Lodge , 11 Lodges , 3 Fellow Craft , 33 Fellow Crafts , & c . Before quitting this subject , I may remark , that an account , of Finch and his works will be found in Oliver ' s Fecelations of a Siinare , pp . 293-305 . —If . C , Li-YANm-fn .

Literature.

Literature .

EEVIEWS .

2 'he History of Freemasonry aud the Grand Lodge of Scotland , villi Chapters on the Knights Templar , Knights of St . John , Marl : ]\ fasonry and 11 . A . Degree . By WILLIAM ALEXANDER LAUIUK , Secretary to thc Grand Lodge of Scotland , & c ., & c . Edinburgh : Seton and Mackenzie . —London : It . Spencer . THAT the history of our ancient Order still remains to be writtenis a proposition which we think will be unhesitatinglagreed

, y to by every brother of the Craft AVIIO is possessed of any literary taste or the smallest antiquarian research . It is true that treatises , sketches , and even volumes abound , in which the rise and progress from age to age of the royal art have been feebly and ineffectually traced ; but in by far the larger proportion of these the few grains of refiabie information have been invariably buried in bushels of conjecture and ridicule-provoking absurdities and

anachronisms , as unsatisfactory to the earnest Masonic student as derogatory to the fair fame and honour of the Order in the sight of the profanum rulgus . It is difficult to imagine why this should be so ; since , if Ave are to believe the most time honoured traditions Avhich Ave possess ( and if Ave reject these , Avhere is the line to be drawn between truth and fiction )—the most distinguished men of every age in literaturein philosophand in

, y , Avisdom , have either been themselves brethren of thc Order , or have expressed their conviction of its inestimable A'alue and its vast and wide extended influence . The mystery Avhich almost invariably accompanied thc possessor of any art or science in ancient times—when the uneducated and therefore imperfect reasoning powers of the mob attributed a supernatural or diabolical ori gin to eA-cry occurrence which excited its awe or

wondermay have been ( and doubtless was ) not unwillingly fostered by the adepts ; and in this latter class thc ancient brethren of our Order must he placed . The persecutions and obloquy too which at various periods fell to the lot of the Freemasons may have caused a reluctance to commit to writing any particulars which might implicate , if discovered , the chronicler or the personages of his history ; and , again , over scrupulous Craftsmen may have thought it their duty to extend to thc transactions of the Order the same caution which they were bound to observe as to its secrets . Be the causes however what they may , the fact remains

disagreeabl y prominent that the historical events connected with Freemasonry which bear the date of more than two and a half or three centuries back are for thc most part imperfectly related , and wanting in proofs of their genuine connection with the Craft . A few isolated facts here and there remain established ; but the rubbish which has been preserved so long under the name of " history" in sonic of our handbooks is only deserving of the

contempt and ridicule of thc honest and educated Craftsman . It is a mortif ying reflection that the dearth of works of value upon Alasonic antiquities has actually caused these vamped up and worthless volumes to be in many instances gravely received anil quoted as authorities , though totally deficient , frequently , in veracity or even in credibility . This great defect in the fabric of our institution has not gone

unnoticed , and among the most praiseworth y ell ' orts for its remedy may fairly be classed the volume before us , Avhich though almost entirety new ( in its present form at least ) is modestly entitled a second edition of thc " History" published by Bro . Laurie in the year 1804 . If the present work does not fulfil our behests as a perfect record , we must candidly admit that it is not for want of active zeal or patient research on the part of the author but the

; magnitude and importance of the subject require yet greater powers , and still more careful stiuby of the antiquities of the earl y anil the middle ages , than are displayed in its pages . Though upon several points we do not by any means agree with thc inferences drawn , or the views expressed hy Bro . Laurie , we arc most happy to welcome the great amount of information which he has gathered together in this shape ; and AVC have seldom met

with a book which combined entertainment and instruction more happily . In many instances wc confess AVC think that neither the instruction nor the amusement haA'e any real Masonic bearing ; but the reader will not regret the time which he spends in storing his mind with the memories of ancient times and customs which are here stored up for his gratification . In an exordium , disfigured by an affected style and singularl y desi

ill chosen language , our author gnates architecture as thc first of the useful artSAvhich the necessities of mankind have developed and proceeds—somewhat more broadly than we arc incline ! to-io -rrto assimilate the royal art to the science of architecAire . He