Masons Of England And Their Works.

the documents , the contents of which have been detailed in this paper , have led me to believe that there was not any supreme guild in England , however probable the existence of such a body may appear . Thus the " Orders" supplied to the masons at work at York Cathedral in 1355 , give but a poor notion of

there being then existing in that city anything like a o-uilcl claiming authority in virtue of a charter given to it by Athelstan in 926 , not only over that city but over all England . In Germany , it may be mentioned , it is clearly ascertained that the Grand Lodge of Masons of that country was not formed uutd so late as 1452 . ( To be continued . )

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

OLn MASONIC TOMBSTONE . Ill the churchyard of Derrykeighan , Co . Antrim , is a very old tombstone with Masonic emblems . I will try to describe it . On a square stone is the following inscription in capital letters , —HEAIIE : LVETII : THE : Bony OP : BOBART : fclE . .- WHO : UErARTEO : LIKE : THE ; 7 : OP : JFOV : 1616 : AlSO : SERA : KAR : WHO : DEPARTED : Ml'E :

THE : 2 : or Nov . Tho rest is illegible . On the top of this stone is what heralds would call a shield , but it is turned upside down , so that the toj > of the tombstone ends in a point . From this is drawn a line dividing the upper portion of the stone into two halves , and then another line bisects the former , and converts the top into quarters . On these quarters are two stars of eleven

points , which I take to ineau Suns , and in the other quarters are a deer ' s head surmounted by a square . They stand thus : — Sun Square and head . Seraare „ and head . Suu

-Ex . Ex . 3 IASONS' 3 IABKS . Some of your correspondents have inquired if these marks have a decypherable meaning . I have long looked for anything like a reply in your columns , but without any practical result . Are Masons generally so unacquainted with antiquities—I well know they are with the

whole of the liberal sciences—that they cannot tell the meaning of those emblems they claim as their own ? What is that deeply learned and influential body , the Grand Mark Lodge , about , that none of its shining lights can help to dissipate the darkness in which Mark Masons are plunged ? Either these marks havo a story to tell or they have not—and either the Mai-k Masons

understand those marks or they do not ; and , if the latter , they cannot belong to them—which is it ?—J . 0 . ( Dublin ) . INITIATION INTO THE ORDER OP THE TEMPLE . "Who has thc power to introduce candidates for tho Order of the Temple . —CHEVALIER . —[ Chap . 34 of the Manual treats " Of Conclaves of Initiation . " Article 361

states , — " Conclaves of Initiation may be constituted in the jurisdiction of every postulantia . 362 . Conclaves of Initiation are instituted by tho Council of Institution . 363 . Conclaves of Initiation consist of tho congregation of an indefinite number of initiated novices . " 364 . | The degrees of initiation are five ( I . ) Grand Adepts of the Black Eagleof St . John tho Apostlo ( II ) Oriental

, . . Adepts . ( III . ) Adepts . ( IV . ) Tho Intimate Initiated . ( V . ) The Initiated . 365 . Conclaves of Initiation , in every Commandery , are designated 1 st ., 2 nd ., & c , according to the order of institution , " and so on for Articles up to

Masonic Notes And Queries.

TE 3 IPLA 1 UA . Where can I see a copy of Tanplarla , and on what portions of Templary does it treat?—* J-i "E . W . S . —[ In thc British Museum . Teniplaria Papers relative to tlie Ilistorij , Privileges , and Possessions of the Scottish Knights Templar , and their Successors the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem . 4 to ., 182 S . The foregoing is the title . It

was printed in four parts , and only twenty-five , copies were worked ; consequently it is very rare . ] BRO . J . A . BIAC 0 X 0 CHIE . Wanted , particulars of Bro . . 1 . A . Maconochic , by—HARRIS . . ROBERT BURNS RETURNING THANKS . In "William Pearson's edition 1835 of Lockhart ' s

, , Burns , at page 258 , we find a letter from Burns to John Ballantine , under date Edinburgh , January 14 , 1787 , in which the following passage occurs : — " I went to a Mason lodge yesternight , where the Most Worshipful Grand Master , Charters , and all the Grand Lodge of Scotland visited . The meeting was numerous and elegant ; all the different lodges about town were present in all their

pomp . The Grand Master , who presided with great solemnity and honour to himself as a gentleman and Mason , among other general toasts , gave ' Caledonia and Caledonia ' s Bard—Bro . Burns , ' which rung through the whole assembly with multiplied honours and repeated acclamations . As I had no idea such a thing would happen , I was downright thunder-struck , and ,

tremblingin every nerve , made the best return in my power . Just as I had finished , some of the Grand Officers said , so loud that I could hear , with a most comforting accent , ' Yery well , indeed ! ' which set me something to rights again . " —E . C . GRAND BODGE rICTUB . ES . How many pictures , portraits of various sizes , belong to Grand Lodge , and who are they intended to represent ? ¦ —MAUL-STICK .

Ar00903

PRESERVATION OP STONE . —Nothing in this climate of ours is a greater enemy to buildings in stone than the weak carbonic acid in the atmosphere and rain-water . To obviate this has long been one of the problems architects have endeavoured to solve , but hitherto without avail . Now , however , by Messrs . Bartlett Brothers silicates of soda and potash , alumniates of the same ,

indurating solutions , and siliceous paint , every class of building in stone can be preserved from decay . In these compounds natural products , blended by chemical affinities , are used to increase the durabilit } - of stone ; in fact , it is cultivated nature assisting its uncultivated species to resist atmospheric deterioration . These preparations of Messrs . Bartlett are founded upon au analysis of the

various constituents which form the different kinds of stone in use , so that by adopting one of these forms , according to the nature of the stone to be preserved , the recipient of the solution is enriched by just that one particular ingredient which renders it subject to atmospheric deterioration . This artificial process , which is manufactured without heat , indurates and preserves all stone

subjected to its influence , and allows the original nature of the material to remain unchanged to thc eye , the process being to lay the matter on in a liquid state , and it then forms a deposit identical with the substance operated upon . The value of such a discovery cannot bo too greatly prized , for it will perpetuate in its pristine beauty the delicate tracery of the sculptor , the entirety of large

masses of hewn stone , and be , perhaps , of even more utility in the arts , proving a medium for works of decoration , which will bid defiance to decay . The beauty of its appearance in this latter form is to be seen in the fresco of Mr . Maclise in the House of Lords , where he has used this as his medium , and through which his work is tho most beautiful of the series , and undoubtedly the most lasting .