Notes On Literature, Science And Art.

old friend , John Holland ,- are not a tithe so Avell-knoAvn as they deserve to be . Though just such a man as ought to be initiated into the mysteries of Masonrybeing already prepared in his heart for initiation , ancl without that preparation no ceremonieshoAveA r er beautifulcan ever

, , make any man a Mason—Mr . Holland does not appear ever to have joined the Craft ; at least I find no mention of it in Mr . Hudson ' s exhaustive Life of him , and I think he is too careful a biographer to have omitted statins , the fact had it been

so . lo my brother Freemasons , AVIIO prize honour ancl virtue above all the external advantages of rank and fortune , and who respect every one AVIIO endeavours to stud y tbe liberal arts , that valuable branch of education which tends so effectually to polish and adorn the mindI hope iu a

, future number to give some further account of good John Holland , aided by Mr . Hudson ' s valuable Life of that indomitable man of letters , from Avhich I believe both pleasure and profit may ensue ; in the meantime I cordially commend Mr .

Hudson ' s well-Avritten and evidently carefully correct volume to till AVIIO care to study the life of a good man ancl an able author , whose name is a honour to his native Sheffield , worthy to rank with that of his friend , James Montgomery , and of my friend , Ebenezer Elliott , and our mutual friend , Eta Mawr . Bro . Kenning has done Avell in

reproducing from the " Masonic Magazine , " in a neatly-printed , and well bound , though thin volume ( but then , the price is only sixpence ) , Mentor ' s stirring poem , The New Morality . The sentiments are so truly Masonic , that the brethren should not onl y

" read , mark , learn , ancl inwardl y digest " its friendly satire ancl undoubted verities , but should circulate it Avell among their neighbours . The Avorship of the golden calf , which it so nervously denounces , is really a much vulgarer thing with us in

England than was the idolatry of the ancient Babylonians ; for their golden calf was meant to personify the Great Architect of the Universe , however much it might fail to accomplish its object ; but our golden calf is neither more nor less than

" the almighty dollar . " Tho man Avhose heart is corrupted by the love of gold , as heartily denounced by Bro . Mentor , can never become a true Mason , and whether

rich or poor , and whatever his social position may be , should be black-balled in evenlodge where he may seek for membership , I once heard of a commercial traveller calling upon a customer whom he knew to be a brother of the Craft , lo inquire Avhich of the lodges in the town Avas the

gentlemen ' s lodge ? He very properly reminded him of the ceremony of his initiation . Tho man evidently was a snob , probably sprung from the dunghill , AVIIO had sought and succeeded in creeping like some loathsome reptile where his presence ought never for a moment to have been tolerated . I would

have liked to have given that " incompetent brother " a few days solitary confinement in the ante-room of a lodge , Avith cur Bro . Mentor ' s truthful poem to peruse until ho learnt it all by heart ; then to have turned him adrift , warning him ( by all tho p . ' s of his ob . s' ) never again to seek admission

into any lodge until he had first reduced its excellent precepts to practice . Mr . J . Tom Burgess , of Leamington , I am glad to see , has published , in a sixpenny pamphlet , his A ery able lecture on the Fortifications of Warwick , which was read

to the members of the Wanvickshire Naturalists' and Archaeologists' Field Club on tbe 2 nd of March in the present year , ancl Avhich throAvs considerable new light on the history and remains of that fine old city . " If Warwick Avas ever a Roman

garrison , " says he , " their Campus Martins Avould be probably placed on the slope of the Priory , and not on the edge of the precipitous rock on which the present Castle is built . " And having giA'en reasons for this conjecture , he adds : — "Let us try to realise the condition of Warwickshire

m the early part of the tenth century . It had formed , nominally , part of the Mercian kingdom for some three or four centuries . The broad trackways of the Watling-strect and the Fosse Avere the highways of contending and savage foemen . Warwickshire Avas the very centre of Englandand

be-, came one battle field . Between Warwick and the Watling Street Road , a distance varying from seventeen to twenty-one miles , I can point to four , if not more , battle fields on which Saxon weapons of war have been foundor the signs of ravaged villages .

, There are mounds which may point to other scenes of slaughter , but Avhose true character is as yet unascertained . " To the antiquary , Mr . Burgess ' s able little pamp hlet is a choice morsel .