Masonic Notes And Queries.

we have recapitulated . When , hoAvever , an opponent shall present himself armed with a knowledge of all that has been written in favour of Masonry by its disciples , as Avell as all that has been said against ib by its enemies —when such an opponent will prelude his intended combat by the declaration that he has carefully studied its princiles from the authority of its teachersand kuoivs

p , them to be Avrong , then Ave will consider such a foe as worthy of our lance , and ¦ will freely enter the lists . But for hearsay scandal and gratuitous abuse no man , or Mason , should over have any other answer than silent contempt .

GUILDS . Having for some time been investigating the objects of the Guilds of Europe , I AV . IS somoAvhat surprised by the accompanying extract , which appeared iu the Daily Telegraph of Monday , the 21 st inst . In order to arrive ab tho information I Avanb I send the whole of tbe paragraph . " The pernicious consequence of the guild laws

is best illustrated by a comparison between the moral statistics of different countries . In Prussia , whore trade is pretty unfettered , the average number of illegitimate births is ? 1 * 3 por cent . ; in Bavaria , Avhere commercial institutions smack of the 13 th century rather than of the present time , the same proportion is represented by the figures 21 l 7 . Letting alone university towns , and

other places , ivhorc Ijdng-in hospitals are thrown into the scale , there are entire provinces in that virtuous kingdom Avhere every third man you meet has no right to call his father 'father . ' What a state of things ! And would it not bo preferable to allow people to marry , oven though the legitimate number of craftsmen has been already attained or surpassed in a certain district ?" What old guild laivs are here referred to ?—A GUILD STUDENT .

THE NAME OP 1 IIKAM ABIl-F . " A" i = fraternally informed that the introduction of the name of Hiram Abifi is really earlier than he mentions by some 30 years . Ib is even noticed in one of the professed guide books to Freemasonry , dated 1732 . For reasons " A" Avill readily understand , he must take the writer ' s ipse dixit for the correctness of the above . —O

MASONIC . Alls CHIEF . A brother recently said , Avhen speaking of another brother , " he ' s a Masonic mischief . " Is such an expression according to the principles of Freemasonry ?—¦ C . _ H . B . [ It may bo bad taste to talk so , bnt a man may be a

mischief , i . c , mischievous in many senses ; and perhaps the brother speaking only alluded to some funny felloAA-, all animal spirits , fond of playing tricks with Masons . There ' s a great difference between such a one and a brother repeating all ho hears , like " C . H . B ., " who Ave take to be a Masonic mischief—maker !] TIIE GAVEL .

The common gavel is one of the Avorking tools of an Entered Apprentice . It is made use of by the operative mason to break off the corners of the rough ashlar , and thus fit it better for the builder ' s use , and is therefore adopted as a symbol in speculative Masonry , to admonish us of tho duty of divesting our minds ancl consciences of all the vices and impurities of life , thereby fitting

embodies as living stones for that spiritual building not made Avith hands , eternal in the heavens . Hence , too , we see the propriety of adopting the gavel as the instrument for maintaining order in tho lodge . For , as the lodge is an imitation of tho Temple , and each member represents a stone thereof , so by the influence of the gavelall the ebullitions of temper and the indecorum of

, frivolity are restrained , as the material stones of that building AVOI-C , by tbe same instrument , divested of their asperities and imperfections . In the first edition of this work , I confessed myself at a loss for the derivation of

the Avord " gavel . " I have , however , no longer any doubt that it borroivs its n . ime from its shape , being thatof the gable or gavel end of a house , and this word again comes from the German gipfel , a summit , top peak—the idea of a pointed extremity being common to all . In tbo name , as Avell as tho application of this implement , error has crept into the customs of the lodges . The implement b

employed y many Masters is not a gavel , but a mallet ( the French Masons , in feet , make use of the AVOI-C ! ¦ maillet ) , and is properly not one of the Avorking tools ol " an E . A ., but a representation of the setting maul , one of the emblems of the third degree . The two implements and the two names are entirely distinct , ancl should never be confounded ; and I am surprised to see so learned a Mason as Bro . Oliver falling into this too usual error ,, and speaking of "the common gavel or setting maul , " assynonymous terms . —Hockey ' s Lexicon .

SIR THOMAS GRESHAM , GRAND MASTER . A book on Freemasonry states that " On the' 7 th of June , 1560 , Sir Thomas Gresham appeared publicly in . his capacity as G . M ., and laid the foundation stone , Avith great solemnities , of tho Eoyal Exchange , London . This edifice Avas completed in November , 1567 . Queen Elia' / . beth opened the same in ou which occasion

person , she dined Irish the G . M . She was now more than eversatisfied that the fraternity of Masons did not interferein state affairs ; she became reconciled to their meetings ,, aud from this time Masonry m . ido groat progress . " Does any contemporary history mention the above as a . fact ? Please inform—DUBIOUS .

MASONIC PRAYER . Amongst some old papers belonging to a relative , long deceased , Avas a copy of the Masonic prayer AV rib ten beloiv . It is headed , " Brethren , lot us pray , " ancl then commences , " 0 Lord God , thou great and universal Mason of the World , ancl first Builder of Man , as it Avere a Temple ; be Avith us , 0 Lord , as thou hast

promised , Avhen tAvo or three are gathered together iu thy Name , thou wilt be in the midst of them . * Be Avith us , 0 Lord , and bless all our Undertakings , and grant that this our Friend , may become a faithful Brother . Let Grace and Peace be multiplied unto him , through the knoAvledge of our Lord Jesus Christ . And Grant , 0 Lordas he puttefch forth his hand to thHolWord

, y y ,, that he may also put forth his Hand to serve a Brother ; but not to hurt himself or familj' ; that whereby may bo given to us great ancl precious Promises , that by this Ave may be partakers of thy Divine Nature , having escaped the corruption that is in this World through lust . 0 Lord God , add to our Faith Virtue , and to Virtue-Knowledge , and to Knowledge Temperance , and to

Temperance Prudence , and to Prudence Patience , and to Patience Godliness , ancl to Godliness Brotherly Love , and to Brotherly Love Charity ; and grant , 0 Lord , that Freemasonry may bo blessed throughout the world , and thy peace be upon us , 0 Lord ; ancl grant that Ave may all be united as one , through our Lord Jesus Christ , lvho liveth and reigneth for ever and over . Amen . " Evidently tbe above ivas intended to be used at an initiation , but I should like to know if it really Avas . — T . D . K .

[ It has been in print some 70 or 80 years , and Avas regularly used at every initiation by the Freemasons of the York rite , as well as by many Athol lodges . ] ELEA'EN TO MAKE A LODGE . What reasons were given why eleven make a lodge ? We all know of threefiveor sevenbut Avheleven

?—, , , y T . D . K . —[ The old lectures , York rite , give as reasons that there AVCI-O eleven patriarchs Avhen Joseph was sold into Egypt , and supposed to be lost , and that , after Judas Iscariot had betrayed his Master , there remained but eleven apostles . ]