Masonic Notes And Queries.

for the allegation that " time and circumstances do not suit for such a purpose , " that is mere subterfuge . At p . 5 I read' — " The succession of the Grand Masters closed with Tomenasi , the immediate successor of Paul , since Avhich period the Order has been governed by Lieutenants of the Mastership , but intervals of entire prostration have given birth to Avide changes in its constitution , and at present it may be said to exist in a state of utter disunion and consequent feebleness and decay . "

This is another proof—if further proof were necessary —that the " English Langue " cannot be a part or a branch of the S . Order of St John of Jerusalem , ~ -for what General Chapter composed of members professing to be gentlemen and "Knights of St . John , " would deliberately sanction such a paragraph to be printed , so derogatory of an -Order of which they claimed to be

members ? At p . 10 I read that the Commander Taaffe had the permission of King William IV . to appear in the uniform of the Order at the British Court . " Many years ago I met this Venerable old Knight , and I heard the same account from his own lips ; but the author of the Memoir has omitted to add one other important little fact—no

doubt by au oversight—viz ., that Mr . Taaffe was admitted into the Order by the Lieutenant of the Mastership and Council , and that the diploma which they issued Avas submitted to the King ! Ho one who has perused the evidence I have adduced can fail to come to the conclusion that the so-called

"English Langue" cannot possibly be the English Langne , nor a branch of the S . Order of St . John of Jerusalem , and that the members thereof cannot be be Knights Hospitallers of St . John . AVe have learned from the " English Langue , " by their official "Memoir , as ordered to be printed for tho Langue by the Chapter General of June 24 , 1861 , " that there is

no union between the English Langue and the Sovereign Order of the Knights . Hospitallers of St . John of Jerusalem , although the union would bo desirable . On the other hand , Ave have also learned from the official document of the Sovereign Order , Avhich Sir George BoAvyer has communicated to "IST . and Q ., " that the Order of the Knights Hospitallers Of St . John of Jerusalem is in no

Avay connected Avith the English Langue . Having , iherefore , the unanimous testimony ou both sides , as to the fact that they have no connection Avith each other , it is quite evident that tho aforesaid institution Avhich calls itself the "Venerable English Langue of the Sovereign and Illustrous Oi'der of St . John of Jerusalem " has not the slihtest rihteither legal or moralto

g g , , assume that title and designation , or to represent itself as being Avhat , from its OAVH official testimony and that of the Order of St . John , it is not . —Hisioiucus in Notes and Queries .

A PICKPOCKET AniONO TUB BRETHREN OE THE SQUABE AND COMPASSES . A singular scene occurred , not long since , in a lodge of Freemasons , at Odd Fellows' Hall ~ corner of Center and Grand-streets , New York . Detective Wilson , Avho is a member of the lodge in question , Avas in attendance at its meeting , and just as preparations Avere being made

for the initiation of a new member , everything being conducted Avith all due solemnity , Avhat Avas the officer ' s astonishment to find in the neophyte a notorious pickpocket Avho goes by the name of "Fat Doctor . " The fellow ' s design , evidently , Avas to impose upon a respectable body of men first , and pick their pockets afterwards . The ceremony was immediately stopped , and tlie disappointed apprentice taken to the police head-quarters . — New York Paper .

DOUBLE-HEADED EAGLE . A few Aveeks ago there Avas some inquiry respecting the learning of the " Split CI ' OAV" of the York rite , and instancing Milton . What is the earliest known use of this emblem in connection with English Freemasonry ? The Duke of Sussex had a very ancient ring , considered

to be Masonic , and bearing an eagle , but it was doubleheaded . The Eosicrucians also appear to have used a double-headed eagle . Dunckerley , in 1791 , had the emblem placed upon his seal , and it occurs in the tracing board of a York encampment , executed in 1795 . The favours rendered the York Templars ( 1311 to 1314 ) by the Archbishop are well known , and on turning to an

excellent Dictionary of British Armorials , in course of publication by Mr . J . W . Papworth , I find the following : — "Ar . an eagle displ . double-headed gu . William de Grenefeld , Archbishop of York , 1306-1315 . " —A . THE COOPER MANUSCRIPTS IN LINCOLN ' S INN LIBRARY . A Kentish brother inquires of Avhat this collection consists : apparently he imagines it to be Masonic . The

collection , is historical , antiquarian , and juridical , and was presented to the society many years before Masonry formed a serious part of my pursuits . It was only on my leaving England , in the autumn of 1859 that I added to the collection some Masonic documents ; for instance , the patents creating me Provincial Grand Master and Provincial Grand Superintendent for Kent ; copies of

most of the warrants in virtue of which the Kentish lodges are held ; printed copies of the by-laws of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Kent , with manuscript additions ; copies ( some printed , some written ) of the by-laws of the various lodges of Kent , & c . It is my wish that every thing relating to the Craft that remains in my possession should , at some period , be placed in the same

depository . It may be mentioned that the parchment certificate , Latin and English , signed by the Grand Secretaries , Harper and White , of my being a Master Mason , Avhich I used in a tour in Prussia , Bohemia , Saxony , and Bavaria , in 1822 , has been discovered bound up iu one of the volumes of the collection , containing , for the most part miscellaneous papers relating to the Eecord Commission of 1831 . —CHARLES BURTON COOPER .

THREE . Many young Masons wish to know why three is esteemed a mystic number . The folloAving may interest them : — In all ages the number three has had much mysterious signification , ancl it is said that the Arabic character 3 signifies , in that language , the Trinity in Unity . Howev er this may be , the character holds a high position in

many of the secret Orders of the present clay , ancl one of their penmen has given the following deductions , principally from the ancient Scriptures : " When the world Avas created , Ave find land , Avater , and sky —sun , moon , and stars . Koah had but three sons . Jonah was three days in the whale's belly . Our Saviour passed three days in the tomb . Peter denied his Saviour thrice . There were three patiiarchs—AbrahamIsaacand Jacob . Abraham

enter-, , tained three angels . Samuel was called three times . ' Simon , lovest thoAA me ? ' was repented three times . Daniel was thrown into a den with three lions , for praying three times a day . Sheilrach , Meshech , and Abednego were rescued from the flames of the oven . The Ten Commandments Avere delivered on the third day . Job had three friends . St . Paul speaks of faith , hope , and charity—these three . Those famous dreams of the

baker and butler Avere to come to pass in three days , and Elijah prostrated himself three times on the body ofthe dead child . Samson deceived Delilah three times before she discovered the secret of his strength . The sacred letters on the Cross are I . H . S . ; so also the Koman motto was composed of three words : In hoc signo . There are three conditions for man—the earth , heaven , and hell . There is also a Holy Trinity . In mythology

three Graces ; Ceberus with his three heads ; Neptune holding his three-toothed staff ; tlie Oracle of Delphi cherished with veneration the tripod ; and the nine Muses sang from three . In nature we have morning , noon , and night . Trees group their leaves in three , There is thre-leaved clover . Every ninth wave is a ground swell . We have fish , flesh , and fowl , The majority of mankind die at thirty . AVhat could be clone in mathematics without the aid of the triangle ? " Perth .

3 IOOKE s KASONIC REVIEW . Where , in England , can be seen a copy of Moore ' s Masonic Review , published at Cincinnati , Ohio , of Avhich some twenty-five or twenty-six volumes have appeared ?—G . M .