Masonic Notes And Queries.

existed . " From one of Bro . Murray Lyon s communications to the " Freemasons' Magazine . —CHARLES PUET 02 T COOPEB . SEVEN ASSERTIONS . If a Correspondent thinks it worth his while to read the communication " Varieties of Freemasonry , " " Freemasons' Magazine" vol . 23 , page 231 , he will

, find just seven assertions on important Masonic points aud he will moreover find that a ! the seven assertions are utterly wrong . —A PAST PROVINCIAL GBAND MASTER .

HISTORICAL RESEARCH . The man who goes in for historic research ought only to fear one thing , inaccuracy . Many think when they see their false pretensions exploded , or misrepresentations properly explained that the historical student , or " Iconoclast , " as the case may be , who does so is making a personal attack upon them ; but such an idea is both wrong and unfair .

A PAST PROV . G . M . —ARCHITECTURE , PAGE 428 . I am not sure about the " Contributor' ' referred to at page 428 , being to blame for the supposed silence , however , it appears to me that the "R . W . Brother referred to did praise " German Architecture at the expense of English , " inasmuch as he stated that the Germans taught the English . 3 NTow if ifc

can be shown that this is not correct , and that in reality the English were ahead of the Germans , it follows that the promulgation of the idea that the Germans taught the English is in reality " praising German Architecture at the expense of English . " In connection with this see page 422 of the " Magazine for JNTOV . 26 th , 1870 , second column . THE " Cos ' - TRIBITTOB " REEGBBED TO .

TRINITARIANISM AND THE TRIANGLE . Ihe idea has struck me thafc the doctrine of the Trinity , if carried up to is real origin , would be found to be based upon the worship of the triangle , or upon the triangle as being that figure which is formed by the union of the least number of straight lines . If so , it would show that this doctrine is purely a

production of human observation ; while its propagation , with all that is based upon it , instead of being an honour to the great " I am , " is , in fact , neither more nor less than a compliment to human ingenuity . The Trinitarian system of Christianity manufactured in the middle or latter part of the first century , A . D ., would , therefore , be as much the work of men ' s hands , or brains , as was the Speculative system of Freemasonry manufactured about the beginning of the eighteenth century . —B .

A " MODERN MASON . " It is not often we find a Freemason who delights to call himself a " modern , " and boasting , with apparently the greatest self satisfaction , that the craft did not exist before the last century . Yet such is the position that Bro . W . P . Buchan , a correspondent of the London " Freemason' Magazine" assumes . We say

, assumes , for he has the field to himself . That standard orgau of the brotherhood iu England lately copied in full our Editorial entitled " "Who is a Freemason ? " in which we demonstrated from the etymology of the name , the fact of the ancient origin of the craft . Bro . Buchan does not believe it . That is

unfortunate—for him . But it would be as reasonable for him to deny that because Christianity now varies in some of its ritual and doctrines from the Christianity of the time of Christ , that therefore ifc is not Christianity . The principles and mysteries of Freemasonry can as certainly be traced back through the ages as can the history of the Christian Church

or the Jewish people . Kb one pretends to establish more than this ; and he who is satisfied with less , had better pursue his Masonic studies further , or else decline them altogether . —Keystone .

THE STUDY OF MASONRY . "The study of our mysteries is no mere pastime for the idle ; on the contrary , it is a pursuit which challenges the utmost grasp of intellect , and employs the finest faculties of the human soul . Ifc is also well known that there are many votaries of literature , science , and art enrolled in the ranks of our

Fraternity—men oi whom a great writer justly speaks when he describes them as " a perpetual priesthood , standing forth , generation after generation , as the dispensers and living types of God ' s everlasting wisdom . " To such enlightened minds , Freemasonry unveils a universe of thought—to them it is a keen delight to

trace and interpret those grand and solemn truths that were dimly shadowed forth in the mystic rites of the ancient world . Looking back through the mist of ages , they behold , in the white-robed Essenians , a kindred race , and are familiar with the symbolic

teachings of the great philosophers of old . Amidst the obscurity and darkness of occult ceremonies , they discern faint gleams of the true light in which we now rejoice . In every land they find tokens innumerable graven by the hands of skilful Masons on the walls of ruined fanes and temples . They establish the affinity of our Order with the Dionysian Artificers

, with the disciples of Pythagoras , with the College of Architects at Rome , and with the operative associations of the Middle Ages . They demonstrate clearly that the ethics of Freemasonry were known and taught by the wisest sages of Greece , whose names are still revered and honoured by the nations . They prove

that our Order , though often persecuted , and often derided , has never faltered or failed in its sublime career , although even the mightiest empires have been compelled to succumb to the hand of conquest or of time . " —Boston ' s Freemasons' Magazine .

MERCHANT . I should like to ask the readers of your widely circulated "Magazine , " the meaning of the word "Merchant , '' does it signifiy a " Manufacturer , '' or a "Middle-Man , " or a " Salesman on Commission , " or " A Travelling Agent , " yclept , ' Commercial Travel - ler . — " OltE AVHO DOES SOT CAKE TO ASSOCIATE ¦ WI TH THOSE WHO VIOLATE THEIR PLIGHTED WORD . "

DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AUSTRALIA . One of the first announcements of the discovery of Gold in Australia , is to be found euriousl j' enough in the old Freemasons' Magazine for June , 1793 , at p . 63 , called the Reported Discovery of Gold at Port Jackson . —AOTIQUARIUS .

BRO . JULIUS PEARSON . A notice of the death of Bro . Julius Pearson , appeared as a literary record in many papers . — "W . S .