Masonic Notes And Queries.

Man is a man for all that , no matter where he first saw the light of day , where his lot may be cast , or what the philosophy of the school in which lie was indoctrinated with sentiments of the true and beautiful . Freemasonry , without inquiring into or having any regard for these adventious circumstances , in its high and holy mission overleaps seas and mountains

, and will not be opposed in its humanizing principles by any barrier of nature or man ' s creation . Its benevolence , charities , and sympathies are as diffused as the rays of light emanating from the great central orb , they are neither confined to this terrestial globe nor to the sphere of morality ' s observation . In health

and in sickness , when the life ' s current begins to ebb , ancl even when the spirit disengages itself from the earthly form and it lies iu holy silence , inanimate , without power of motion , even when it is taken to its long home , the habitation of the dead , deep within the bosom of mother earth , there Freemasonry ' s affection and kindness follows the departed and teaches its lessons to the living ; , which thev may not

forget , not when the spirit in a higher sphere of li ght , in the celestial lodge permeates in the glories of a heaven of progressive intellectual enjoyment . In the lodge above , or the lodges in the world of spirits , where the innumerable throng from , the day of creation , from the infinite worlds which roll iu boundless space throughout interminable immensithave been

y , multi plying by constant , unceasing , and ever increasing additions ; there no'distinctions of caste , of birth , or creed exist . In unison as one family , as a band of brothers , there ihe members of each lodge pursue the labour of love , each one emulous in striving how best to promote the welfare and harmony of all . Ancl

thus should it be here in this probationary life . If Freemasons would only learn the lessons which Freemasonry teaches , divest themselves of the narrow prejudices of education , and with a comprehensive intelligence overleap the narrow barriers erected to separate man from his fellow-man , then indeed would the institution be an association of love , of goodness aud truth , and perform its mission in elevating , improving , ancl humanising the family of man .

"—UNIYEBSALIST . WAS SHAKESPEAEE A MASON ? I cannot concur in the snubbing which you gave last week to our brother " Bardolph" for his capacious idea of the hundred thousand marching Masons , walking about the London streets , all " anxious ,

willing , and ready to take part in such a national cause" as the festival of the birth of Shakespeare . It seems to me that " Bardol ph , " in this digression of his , must be suspected of a desire merely of poking fun at the festival commemoration in general , and of the members of the committees in particular ; and has

taken this opportunity of giving vent to his Bardolphian wit and sarcasm . He says , however , that ' - every paltry provincial town has a Masonic pz-oeession once or twice a year . " I wish he would give a list of those " paltry" towns . I reside in a provincial town in Yorkshirehaving an old lodge of Freemasons ,

, and a population of about fifteen thousand ; but it is near upon twenty years since the Masons took any part whatever in a public procession . In fact , throughout this great county Masonic procession are almost entirely amongst the things that have been . But now to the subject of Shakespeare being a Freemason

aud I will say at once that I believe he was not . The question has " been often put , and in the pages of your MAGAZINE too . If Shakespeare had ever been a Mason , it would have been proved years ago by the books of the lodges in which he had been initiated , passed , or raised . In the absence of such evidence , the

respecting so great a man , we must come to conelusion that none such can be found , and that , therefore , there is none . Ergo , Shakespeare was not a Freemason . The use o £ the words square and rule are no evidence whatever , else wo mig ht say that the pert hussey was a Mason who addressed Shakespeare ' s friend , Benjamin Joason , thus : —

" By line and rule works many a fool—Good morrow , Master Bricklayer 1 " To which witty and learned Ben replied" In silk and scarlet dresses many a harlot—Good morrow , Madam . " But " Bardolph" asks if any of your readers can help

him to other passages , so as to set at rest the question of William Shakespeare being a Freemason . I think I can help him to something which will prove either that Shakespeare knew something of Masomy or that Masonry knew something of Shakespeare ; in fact , there was lagiarism on one part or the other . Every

p initiated brother knows that " Charity , like its sister Mercy , is twice blessed ; it blesseth him that gives as well as him that receives . " Those words are Shakespeare ' s , and are spoken by Portia , who could not certainly have received them from Masonic initiation . Againin one of the Masonic lectures we are told

, that " A Mason dares do all that may become a man , remembering that he who dares do more is none . " Was Macbeth an initiated Freemason ? for he it is who uses those very words when he replies to the cutting irony of his wife , " Letting I dare not wait upon I would . " In addition to these I think you

will find , at page 171 of the book of the lodge , a Shakesperian word or sentiment ; but , not having the book by me , I cannot quote it . I have now given you some parallel passages , which prove either that Shakespeare copied from Masonry , or that Masonry copied from Shakespeare . I incline to . the latter belief , in which case , if correct , it is a proof that our excellent ritual is not so ancient as some Freemasons are apt to imagine . —ANCIENT PISTOL .

THE TWELVE BEOTHEES LODGE . Is the following , cut from " The Voice of Masonry , " true ?— " There is , however , one more subject of which I must speak . I allude to the Twelve Brothers ' Lodge . This lodge has been established for the sole of instruction ; andin order that it shall

purpose , not interfere with the other lodges of the city , they initiate no persons whatever , except it he a son of one of the members . The readers of the Voice will see this makes it at once a very peculiar organisation—so much so that we have nothing like it in the United States . I trust it will be sustained , and , instead of

doing any work at all , devote its entire time to mental refreshment . If so , it cannot fail to do an immense deal of good ; for I can assure , that here , as well as in our own country , there is plenty of room for such work . That is a part of the temple that has been left comparatively untouched , and the sooner it is built up the better . " Was not some one hoaxing the writer ?—A THIRTEENTH BEOTHEE .