to which their disagreement inevitably gave rise, proved ultimately so intolerable, that the architects were forced to abandon the beautiful constructive geometric tracery for the flowing or flamboyant form; and this last was so ill-adapted to stone construction, that ultimately the method was abandoned altogether. These and many other difficulties would have been avoided had the architects adhered to the form of the unbroken arch; but, on the other hand, it must be confessed that the pointed forms gave a facility of arrangement which was an irresistible inducement for its adoption; and especially to the French, who always affected height as the principal element of archtectural effect, it afforded an easy means for the attainment of this object. Its greatest advantage was the ease with which any required width could be combined with any required height. With this power of adaptation the architect was at liberty to indulge in all the wildness of the most exuberant fancy, hardly controlled by any constructive necessities of the work he was carrying out. Whether this was really an advantage or not, is not quite clear. A tighter rein on the fancy of the designer would certainly have produced a purer and severer style, though we might have been deprived of some of those picturesque effects which charm so much in Gothic cathedrals, especially when their abruptness is softened by time, and hallowed by associations. We must, however, in judging of the style be careful to guard ourselves against fettering our judgment by such associations. There is nothing in all this that might not have been as easily applied to round as to pointed arches, and indeed it would certainly have been so applied had any of the round-arched styles arrived at maturity.

(To be continued.)

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES,

QUERIES.

Can the Master of a lodge make a motion or proposition from the chair ?-R.W.M.-[Yes.-ED. F.M.]

May a Master or a lodge vote on any question before the lodge ?-R.W.M.-[Certainly; he may exercise his privilege of membership.-ED. F.M.]

* Somehow, from their construction even, is there not, however, a spirituality and heaven-directing idealism about our pointed cathedrals which round-arched edifices want ?

DIFFUSION OF FREEMASONRY.

An interesting example of the diffusion of Freemasonry over the surface of the globe was recently seen in your front page. An Englishman went to Constantinople in the public service, he was there admitted into Freemasonry. A daughter was born to him in that distant city. After various ups and downs of life and travels, he died prematurely in the city of Teheran, in Persia, not entitled to a pension. His daughter is elected at the head of a list of candidates Institution for Girls, and will in London receive a into that valuable institution, the Royal Masonic sound education.

Brethren abroad sometimes grumble about their dependence on a Grand Lodge in London, but its organization is available to them in every part of the world, and particularly to all poor and distressed brethren.-PEREGRINUS.

"SPECULATYF," ITS MEANING (pp. 251, 285, & 329). I do not intend to quarrel about the meaning of the word "speculatyf," for it is quite unnecessary; and, although the word occurs in 1440, it does not follow that it was known in 926, neither does it follow that its current meaning in 1869 was the same as in 1440. First prove, if you can (but I am afraid you can't), that our speculative Masonry existed before not initiated into it. I shall always be ready to bow last century, before you reckon who was or who was to real evidence, and acknowledge a mistake whenever it is proved, or I perceive I have made one.-W. P. BUCHAN.

THE BUILDING FRATERNITIES.

Buchan is in complete error when he says the era At page 329 "A Masonic Student " says, "Bro. of building fraternities was in the 12th and 13th centuries."" Well, if I be wrong, I sin in good Innes, page 297 of his "Scotland in the Middle company, as per the remarks of Professor Cosmo Ages," published in 1860; also of James Ferguson, Esq., in his work published in 1855, in which, page 667, he speaks of "the glorious period of the 13th century," and, he goes on to say, "Not even the great Pharaonic era in Egypt, the age of Pericles in Greece, nor the great period of the Roman empire, will bear comparison with the 13th century in Europe."

Before the war of independence in Scotland, many noble churches were built there; but after that time -end of 13th century-they were backward. So in France, the war with England hurt it; but, as I have sent to the Magazine an article upon "Gothic Architecture and Operative Freemasonry," I beg to refer "A Masonic Student" to it for further remarks. However, as to the recommendation to read "Mr. Hope's Essay on Architecture," I have examined it to-day (2nd edition, 1835), and, for the time it was written, it is very good; but it is too old. We have many authors since then who have been able to correct Mr. Hope's mistakes; consequently, I would recommend "A Masonic Student" to get some more recent and standard work to quote from. Mr. Hope places Germany as the pioneer of Pointed or Gothic Architecture; whereas, we now find it came after both France and England. Mr. Hope's speculations were based upon wrong data; hence his mistakes.W. P. BUCHAN.

LOOSENESS AS TO DATES (pp. 286 & 330). Bro. J.A.H. has written to me, and I understand how the mistakes occurred, and am quite satisfied. W.P.B.

BURGH RECORDS (330).

I am sorry to have to knock down the fine "castle in the air" which our esteemed brother, "A Masonic Student," has been building up at page 320 in regard to the Knights Templar being Freemasons, &c. Turn to page 250, September 25th, and it will be seen that the Templars "joined the gild in order to have liberty to trade;" that is, they joined the merchant gild, not the Mason Craft. They did not want to work as handicraftsmen; they wished "to intromet with merchandise." Moreover, as I have already shown and quoted the law, a man could not be a craftsman and a merchant at one and the same time; he had to be either the one or the other; and the merchant gild always thought themselves above the trades gilds or handicrafts.-W. P. BUCHAN.

BRO. W. J. HUGHAN AND FREEMASONRY.

Will Bro. Hughan kindly say what he meant, or what he referred to then, when at page 289 he said, "Masonry was practised as a secret society, and on a different basis to any other trade incorporations or guilds?"-W.P.B.

TRADE SECRETS.

As Bro. Buchan and other of your correspondents doubt about trade signs and grips in the middle ages, I refer them to the fact that at the Council of Avignon, in 1326, the system of secret signs and tokens of trades was then so developed as to be condemned, so that the Popes of the last century were not the first assailants. The curious matter on this is quoted from the History of Davington, p. 58, in "Notes and Queries," 4th Series, iv., Oct. 16, 1869, p. 310. The craftsmen are accused also of electing a Major, or Master, to whom they all swore obedience. Quotations:

Concilii, edition of Mansi, in folio, at Venice, 1782,

ch. xxv., col. 763.

Ducange, Dictionary of Low and Medieval Latin,

word Fabricato.

THE SYBILLINE LEAVES.

The ancient name given to those women who pretended to have a divine inspiration and a knowledge of future events was Sybil. The most celebrated were the Sybils of Ionia and Italy. It was this last who sold the books or sybilline leaves to Tarquinius Superbus (the elder Tarquin). It was stated that these books contained all the future of Rome. Tarquin deposited them in the Capitol and confided them to the care of two priests, named Duumviri; these afterwards initiated 13 more, who carefully guarded the sacred records. At the burning of the Capitol in the time of Scylla, these leaves were destroyed. It is supposed that these oracles had their origin from the Essenian priests, from whom some authors have considered the secrets of Freemasonry are derived.— REITAM.

ST. JOHN, THE PATRON SAINT OF MASONS.

In confirmation of Bro. Buchan's remarks in a late number of the Magazine, I have much pleasure in quoting a paragraph from Bro. Rebold, Past Deputy of the Grand Orient of France, and a recognised authority on all subjects connected with the Craft:

"In those days (i.e., the Middle Ages) it was customary to dedicate and consecrate to some saint every erection intended for the worship of God, and, with the like idea, all the corporations of artists, artisans, and trades chose patron saints. The Freemasons chose St. John the Baptist for theirs, because his feast fell on the 24th June, the date of the summer solstice.

"This day had always been celebrated by the peoples of antiquity, and by the Masons since the foundation of their fraternity, as the period of the year when the sun, having attained its greatest height, nature is clothed and disports herself in the greatest abundance of her richest products. As successors of the ancient colleges of the Romans, the Freemasons of England conserved these cherished feasts; but, not to come in conflict with the dominant clergy, they calculated to give offence. It was on this account were obliged to give their celebration a name not they were known, not exclusively by the name of Freemasons, but often as the Fraternity of St. John, and on the Continent almost exclusively as St. John Brothers, or the Brothers of St. John."

Without giving any opinion on the above, I can only say, "Si non e vero, è ben trovato."-REITAM.

A STRANGE STORY.

Through the kindness of Bro. S. Percy, P.M. 317, 1,005, I am enabled to present the following paragraph to your readers; it is extracted from a Californian paper, and, I am given to understand, is well authenticated. I have no doubt it will be of interest. -REITAM.

"The first Masonic funeral that ever occurred in California took place in the year 1849, and was performed over the body of a brother found in Bay of San Francisco. An account of the ceremonies states that on the body of the deceased was found a silver mark of a Mason, upon which were engraved the initials of his name. A little further investigation revealed to the beholder the most singular exhibition of Masonic emblems that was ever drawn by the ingenuity of man on the human skin. There is nothing in the history or the traditions of Freemasonry to

equal it. Beautifully dotted on his left arm, in red and blue ink, which time could not efface, appeared all the emblems of the Entered Apprenticeship. There were the Holy Bible, the square and compass, the twenty-four inch gauge and common gavel. There was also the Masonic pavement, representing the ground floor of King Solomon's Temple, the indented tessel which surrounds it, and the blazing star in the centre. On his right arm, and artistically executed in the same indelible liquid, were the emblems pertaining to the Fellow Craft degree, viz., the square, level, and the plumb. There were also the five orders of architecture-the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite. In removing the garments from his body the trowel presented itself, with all the other tools of operative Masonry. Over the heart was the pot of incense. On the other parts of his body were the bee-hive, the "Book of Constitutions," guarded by the Tyler's sword, the sword pointing to a naked heart, the All-seeing eye, the anchor and ark, the hour-glass, the scythe, the 47th problem of Euclid, the sun, moon, stars, and comets, the three steps emblematical of youth, manhood, and age. Admirably executed was the weeping virgin, reclining upon a broken column, upon which lay the Book of Constitutions.' In her left hand she held a pot of incense, the Masonic emblem of the immortality of the soul. Immediately behind her stood winged Time, with his scythe by his side, which cuts the brittle thread of life, and the hour-glass at his feet, which is ever reminding us that our lives are withering away. The withered and attenuated fingers of the Destroyer were placed amid the long and gracefully flowing ringlets of the disconsolate mourner. were the striking emblems of mortality beautifully blended in one pictorial representation. It was a spectacle such as Masons never saw before, and, in all probability, such as the fraternity will never witness again. The brother's name was never known."

CORRESPONDENCE.

Thus

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents CELESTIAL MYSTERIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIRROR.

Dear Sir and Brother,-Bro. Evans, of Hobart Town, remarks that the Book of Constitutions of the Grand Lodge does not allude to the origin of Freemasonry; that either the order really possesses a history or it does not; that, if it does, then unquestionably historical landmarks must exist somewhere by which its pretensions to antiquity can be established. The name of the original rulers and patrons of the Order should be known, and there should be an original plan and structure, &c.

When an aspirant is initiated he promises not to write or print anything directly or indirectly relating to Masonry. The words required of him are remarkably vigorous, and mean what they imply; or, if they do not, why are they allowed to be continued. When Masons ruled the world the oath was strictly enforced, and it was almost impossible for a brother to publish anything that was forbidden, and, even if he did so, it was of no avail, for the higher orders

were compelled to destroy all records that related to Masonry unless written or printed in the celestial language, a language perfectly unintelligible to the uninitiated. There are thousands of these celestially written works preserved in libraries, all of which can be read and understood by masters of the science. From what can be gathered from these records, Masonry flourished prior to the 16th century; that during the 17th it dwindled and became interwoven with astrology. The sciences confounded, seem to have remained passive for a time, when about the 18th century operative Masonry broke forth into existence. existence. Modern Masonry has certainly nothing to do with astrology, but it assuredly has some connexion with astronomy, that is if the Grand Registrar's certificate is any authority. Thus Masonry is derived from the heavens, or the heavenly figures have been made to correspond with the Masonic ritual-one or the other! The celestial figures are said to be the invention of Ptolemy, and he died some years before Anno Domini commenced; so Masons must decide for themselves about antiquity. In 1751 there was an evident endeavour to reestablish ancient Masonry. According to the old style-that is of the dark ages-Easter Day was dependent on the full moon at the vernal equinox, or the 21st of March. Easter Day in 1751 was still dependent on the full moon of the 21st March, as the prayer-books will prove; but the equinox, instead of being on the 21st March, had, owing to precessional motion, been driven back to the 10th of March. So no correct celestial atlas could be constructed, and consequently complex calculations were required to elucidate Masonic combinations. In 1752 the Act of Parliament introduced what is called the new style, but which in reality was re-introducing the very old style, as the Act itself explains. It sets forth that at the Convocation of Nice the vernal equinox was on the 21st March, and for reasons given it was desirable it should be as it was at the time of the Convocation. The law then ordains that the Calendar for the future shall be so regulated as to perpetuate the 21st of March as the day of the equinox. Atlases, therefore, properly constructed for the Nicean period (A.D. 325), for the year 1752, and for subsequent years must be all alike, and with them the celestial Masonic mysteries can be easily interpreted.

How could the Grand Lodge print and publish the history of Masonry when it would have been death for any one to have written the history. The officers of the Grand Lodge individually know nothing more of Masonry than do W.M.'s generally. The Grand Lodge is merely the executive of the Order, not the initiative, for there is no initiative, as Masons are beginning to find out. It was the duty of the executive rulers, whether they were called Cardinals, or Knights of Malta, or convocations of W.M.'s, to enforce the obligations and to punish those who evaded the provisions, and not to teach the knowledge to the brethren.

As to the original rulers of Masonry, what more can Bro. Evans require than to be reminded that the original rulers were Sol in Omon at the Convocation of Nice, and the celestial hosts were the landmarks, and" Remove not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set," for cursed be he that removeth his