Masonic Notes And Queries.

now between seven and eight in the morning . He closed his eyes , and gasped for breath . The bishops knelt down and read the commendatory prayer . AVhen it was ended AVilliam was no more . AVhen his remains were laid out , it was found that he wore next to his skin a small piece of black silk ribbon . The lords in waiting ordered it to be taken off . It contained a gold ring and a lock of the hair of Mary .

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

The annual meeting of the Art Union of London will be holden on Tuesday next , April 30 th , at the Theatre Royal JSTew Adelphi , by the kiud permission of Bro . Benjamin AVebster . Mr . J . Lamont , F . G . S ., in his Seasons with the Sea Horses , gives the following account of the great waste of life in shooting seals : — " When seals are in , the water they are not the least afraid of a

boat , but come boldly up quite close to it , first on one side and then on the other , as if impressed with the deepest curiosity to see what the unusual looking object is . AAlien they are shot dead in the water , however , they sink so rajiidly that it is very difficult to take possession of tliem . The most approved plan is , not to fire unless the boat's head is directed towards the seal and distant not more than thirty yards ; then , if the men all give way instantly and vigorously , you may be in time to thrust or dart the harpoon into

the seal before he sinks , but more likely you will only he in time to see him sinking fer clown in the clear water with his tail downwards . Some people compute that ' one-half of the seals shot in the water , even with skilful management , are lost ; ' others say ' two thirds , ' and from our own experience , I am inclined to think it is two to one on the seal , or thereabouts . I have several times lost six consecutively , and a most tantalising proceeding it was ; but , bad luck as that may seemit is nothingfor our head

harpoonerChris-, , , tian , a very smart fellow , told me that one clay he shot dead eighteen immense seals , and lost every one of them ! If you merely -mound a seal in the water , there is a much better chance of getting him than if he is killed outright , as lie sometimes flounders on the surface till he is harpooned . I have often thought that it would answer to use small shot when they come so close , and I regret never having made the experiment . "

Dr . Livingstone has now discovered that the celebrated Victoria Falls , which he had estimated at about a thousand yards in breadth , are at least 1860 yards , with a sheer fall of 310 feet . Immense quantities of petroleum , or oil , has been discovered in the western countries of Canada . In the township of Enniskillen , county of Lambton , it is said to ooze up to the surface ; and wells

sunk to | a depth of twenty or thirty feet , are reported to yield from 100 to 150 barrels every twenty-four hours . In other places wells require to be sunk from 100 to 150 feet .

At the sale ' of the late Principal Lee's collection of manuscripts , on the 4 th inst ., at Edinburgh , twenty-two letters from Lorcl Lovat , who was beheaded in 1746 , sold for £ 6 10 . ? . ; a letter from Gibbon the historian , dated April 1 st , 177 G , noticing " the excellent work of Mr . Adam Smith , " £ 1 3 * . ; eighteen letters from David Hume , 1735-19 , £ 9 9 * . ; letter from the Earl of Cassilis to the Earl

of Eglinton , written in 15 G 8 , giving an account how Mary Queen of Scots passed her time in England , £ 1 17 ,.. ; thirty-two treatises , principally on metaphysics , and several hundred letters and papers , in the handwriting of Dr . Adam Ferguson , 1772 to 1 S 08 , £ 19 3 * . ; and the Grange Papers—so called from being formerly in the possession of James Erskine , Lorcl Grange—reached £ 170 . This last

collection comprises twenty letters from John and Charles AVesley , to Lord Grange , with drafts of the replies ; six letters of Dr . Doddridge , and upwards of 200 other letters , from Dr . Isaac AVafcfcs , George AVhitfield , the Countess of Huntingdon , andothers . The summer session at Guy ' s [ Hospital commences on AA ' ednesilay , May 1 st .

The total amount subscribed for the Pugin Travelling Fund now amounts to £ 1 , 010 11 , ? , Gd . Mr . Thomas River's little work on improved fruit-tree culture The Orchard House , has reached a ninth edition . Mr . Thomas Hare ' s contribution to Macmillan ' s Magazine for ,

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

this month , The Development qf the Wealth of India , is about to be published in a separate form , with notes and additions . The first volume of an English edition of Dr . Carl A on Scherzer ' s new work , Tlie Circumnavigation qf the Globe by the Austrian Frigate " Novara , " has just been issued . At the meeting of the Society of Antiquaries on the 11 th inst .,

J . Irving , Esq ., exhibited " a curious Anglo-Roman ladder , made by means of holes cut in a solid oak plank , " which was found in an iron-mine in the Forest of Dean , 300 ft . below the surface . Ladders of this description are still used in England , placed perpendicular , in confined situations .

Frederick Gye , Esq ., has kindly placed the Royal Italian Opera House at the disposal of the Council ofthe Royal Dramatic College , for a benefit in aid of the funds , on Friday , the 10 th of May . A public dinner is to take place at the London Tavern , on Tuesday , May 7 th , Thomas Baring , Esq ., M . P ., in the chair , in aid of the special fund of the London Mechanics' Institution , for the

purchase of the lease , and the liberation of Lord Brougham and Joshua AValker , Esq ., the surviving trustees , from the liabilities generously incurred by them in connexion therewith . Upwards of £ 2000 have already been subscribed , and other £ 1500 are required . Surely "the great metropolis" can easily raise so paltry a sum for such a purpose . The pence of the working men alone might do it .

The Duke of Richmond has been unanimously elected Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen . Our Bro . the Rev . Granville Granville , Vicar of Stratford-on-Avon , has written to the Athencsum , defending his conduct in causing the bust of Shakspere to be daubed over with red and black paint ; on which our contemporary remarks : — " AVe must be pardoned for

disputing Mr . Granville's right to do as he pleases with the bust in his church . It belongs not to him , not to his church , not to the town , but to the whole civilised world . "

It is proposed to erect a marble statue of our late Bro . Sir Charles Barry in the new palace at Westminster . The famous altar-candlestick , formerly belonging to Gloucester Cathedral , and stolen therefrom nobody knows when , but which is considered one of the , finest works of art of its kind , has been purchased for South Kensington Museum , at a cost of £ 800 .

The monument designed by Mr . John Bell , and recently erected at the bottom of Waterloo-place , " To the memory of the 2162 officers and men of the Brigade of Guards who fell during the warin Russia , 185-1 , 1855 , 185 G , " has been severely criticised . The Illustrated London News , which gives a good wood-engraving of the monument , terms it " an eyesore , ancl an obstruction of the public

view of one of the most agreeable outlooks which our crowded thoroughfares afford , " and adds , — " As a work of art this memorial is almost beneath criticism . It may be said of it with perfect truth that it is unique : nothing like it has ever been seen—nothing else like it , we trust , ever will be seen . It is neither picturesque nor architectural , nor jointly both . "

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . RETURNS TO THE CLERK OE THE PEACE . TO Tim EDITOn OF THE r _ n _ E _ IASO _ . S MAGAZINE A >'_> _ I . _ SO _ UC MIRHOU . DEAR SIR AXD BROTHEB , —I see my old oppnnent , "R . E . X ., " is still harping on ono string , the desirabilit } ' - of ignoring

the Returns to the Clerk of the Peace , because , if he can . upset the principle , then thc so-called Mark lodges holding under the assumed Grand Mark Lodge of England , need not fear being classed amongst illegal secret societies . The gist of Ms communication is to be found in the first paragraph of his letter , in which he states , " Much uncer-