Masonic Notes And Queries.

are sadly inefficient , there being no register for members , and no comprehensive arrangement that exhibitc tho state of the funds , and each member ' s account at one view . Surely some of your correspondents , who arc business men , could devise a good set of books , and let us havo them at a reasonable , and not exorbitant charge , such as we now pay for a bad article ?—L . S . D .

¦ MASONIC MOGEAMIY . I am anxious to knoiv if certain men who have been great benefactors to civilization , were brethren , but I do not know to whom to a 2 > p ly . Can yon assist mo ?—C . H . —[ State the names of tho individuals you require by letter to Bro . Matthew Cooke , who is making a collection of such biograjihies , and has some hundreds of notes on tho subject . ]

SECRET CONSTITUTIONS OI' TIIE ANCIENT AXD ACCEPTED 1 UTE . Of ivhat does thc Secret Constitutions of the Ancient and Acce 2- > teil Rite consist , and who has over seen them?—E . C . L . B . —[ That is the secret . ]

3 IASOXKY IX IIEKCUIAXEUJI . I Avas walkin g through thc British Museum the other day , and admiring some of the vases from Horcnlaneum and Ponuieii ^ vvhen my attention was suddenly arrested by seeing Masonic sj-mbols depicted on some of them , and this induces mc to inquire , through " Masonic Notes and Queries , " if it is'known that Masonry was in vogue in those cities?— . Civis .

KNIGHT OF THE SW 011 DS . What is the proper jewel for a Knight ofthe Swords ?—J . LODGE ON BOAED SHIP . Aii inquirer asked for instances of a lodge being held at sea . Turning over your old numbers , I came upon one such record . It occurs at ! page 1050 of THE EEEEMASONS MAGAZINE for December , 1857- —Am OLD SALT .

WHAT CONSTITUTES A DEGHEE IN MASOXEY . I am anxious for a definition of what constitutes a degree in Masonry ? To make my meaning clear , I ivill state my own conclusions on the point , and request any brethren to assist me , or correct me , by their superior knowledge . —A degree is defined by Johnson , in his Dictionary , as , " quality , rank ; station ; a comparative state

of condition in which a thing is ; a stej ) or preparation to anything ; order of lineage ; descent of family ; order or class ; measure ; proportion . " Now , the Booh of Constitutions states , that ' - ' pure ancient Masonry consists of three degrees , and no more , viz ., those of E . A ., E . G ., and M . M ., including the Supreme Order of the Holy Eoyal Arch . " Here Ave have but three degrees with their names pointed ont , but in

actual 2 iractico they are sub-divided into eight , thus : —E . A ., P . O ., MM ., P . M ., E . A ., 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd Principals . Taking Johnson ' s definition of a " step , a 2 n * eparation , an order , or class , " to constitute a degree , I think it cannot be denied thafc each of tlie latter five , mentioned above , are truly degrees , because they are all . stops , or classes , kept separate from each other , and each requiring an obligation to beep them secret from those not entitled , or in possession of them . If this be the case , then , I would ask , does not Craft j Masonry employ eight degrees ?—Ex . Ex . I

BEO . AXDEESOX . Is this Bro . Anderson , who printed the first edition of thc Bool ; of Constitutions , the well-known genealogist of thc xviiith century?—P . P . —[ Yes . Sco his House of Yen / , nominally written by the Earl of Egmont , but really the production of Bro . Anderson . It is very scarce ; the two volumes , nofc in a first-rate state , fetched forty-three guineas , at Libri ' s sale . ]

THE KING OE PEOEESSIOX . I see several Masons wearing rings bearing a red Maltese Cross on a whito ground , and 1 am told they arc " The Rings of Profession of a Knight Templar . " Where can I find any allusion to them ?—ELTIIAM . —[ Consult thc article on " The Order of the Temple in Prance , " FEEEMASOXS MAGAZINE , 18 . 57 , page 526 , last paragraph . ] AEMOElAL JIEAEIXGS . My shield has one of its quarterings not filled up ; am I

Masonic Notes And Queries.

at liberty to charge it with the Masonic emblems ?—P . P . — [ We suppose so . The Grand Lodge would not interfere , and and as the Earl Marshal and the College are now dead letters , they having no administrative functions , there would be no fear of your being called in question , if you were to fill the quarter up with that rara avis , a dead donkey . ]

Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

NOTES ON LITERATURE , SCIENCE , AND ART .

The Bev . Thomas Guthrie , D . D ., in his Seed-Time and Harvest of Ragged Schools , remarks : — " God never made man to be reared in flocks , hut in families . Man is not a gregarious animal , other than that he herds together with his race in towns , a congeries of families . Born , as he is , with domestic affections , wliatever interferes with their free play is an evil to he shunned , and , in its

moral and physical results , to be dreaded . God framed and fitted man to grow up , not under the hospital , hut tlie domestic roof—AA-hether that roof be the canvas of an Arab tent , tho grassy turf of a Highland shieling , or the gilded dome of a palace . And as man was no more made to he reared in an hospital than the human foot to grow in a Chinese shoe , or the human body to he bound in

ribs of iron or whalebone—acting in both cases in contravention of God ' s laws—you are as sure in the first case to inflict injury on his moral , as in the second on his physical constitution . They commit a grave mistake who forget that injury as inevitably results from flying in the face of a moral or mental , as of a physical law . "

The editor of Harper ' s New Monthly Magazine ( a New York publication ) , writing on public schools , remarks : — " Our children , especially our daughters , are not hardy , and do not bear constant apiJication to any kind of labour or study . We have made careful observation and inquiry , and are convinced that this is the chief source of absence and inefficiency . Look carefully through our

model schools , and note the delicacy of the faces , and the general slightness of the figures . A few weeks ago I searched zealously among some 200 boys for specimens of the stout , traditionary urchin , whose achievements at the trencher and the play-ground were equally conspicuous ; and whilst most of them had a puny look , few had the flush of high health , and not one had the air of

rude strength . Sometimes , in addition to a pale face , a dark mark under the eye speaks of worse ei'ils than the midnight lamp , and urges with fearful emphasis the need of combining more stringent moral training with such a surfeit of book knowledge , and of

bracing to higher virtue the nerves and muscles , whose excessive sensibility are as apt to tempt morbid passions as to favour beautiful tastes and blessed aii ' ections Out-door exercise , with Aviser diet and hours of sleep , will do much to check the difficulty ; and already in many quarters the reaction has earnestly begun . Our girls , however * , share comparatively little in the improvement ; and delicacy of nerves and weakness , especially of the mucous

membranes , and consequent exposure to colds , are doing as much to thin the ranks of our female schools , and to keep the attendance irregular , as truancy—ivhich is now much abated—used to do in our boys' schools . " And he adds : — " We have no hesitation in saying that a portion of the supervisors of our public schools , according to the present system , might take their places more fitly

among the pupils than among the examiners , and be set to work learning to read and spell , instead of sitting in complacent authority on the platform , easting glances of knowing patronage upon the array of bright girls and boys before them . "

On Wednesday next , April 3 rd , J . H . Parker , Esq ., U . S . A ., will lecture at the Architectural Museum , South Kensington , " On the Architecture of the Eleventh Century . " The Very Bev . E . B . Ramsay , Bean of Edinburgh , has in the press a new volume of his chatty ' Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character .