Masonic Notes And Queries.

TEJIPLAR QUERIES . 1 . Did the term Captain Comina .-d .-iif / Column originate with the "Modern Order of Jerusalem Sols ?" The term apparently was unknown to the Ancient Templars . The Marshal commanded all below his own rank , and a Knight Preceptor led every ten knights . 2 . About A . D . 1300 the Knihts of Malta passed a law

, g to prohibit brethren appearing in chapter armed ; the "French Templars arm—the reverse of our mode—is this the custom elsewhere ? 3 . Our Grand Conclave has properly re-assumed the title of Malta ; would it now again be considered legiti ^ mate for the old Knights of Malta in our encampments to form Commanderies and admit to the Order ( as a

separate degree ) ? if so , some statute regulations should be made on the subject . I am inclined to think tho junction of the Templars and a portion of the Knights of Malta , took place at the Reformation . The Order was dispersed in 1798 , and some foreign degrees wore about that time introduced into our encampments by refugees . Thirty years after this the French Templars

state they made overtures to unite with them . 4 . A Knight high in authority prohibits the wearing of the Eose Croix Jewel in Templar meetings . Why is this , and who has the right to require it ? not being contrary to the statutes . —A . GEASD LODGE PROPEltTY . Being a member of Grand LodgeandI suppose

, , , entitled as such to about a brick and a half of the Grand Lodge property , must not my consent be asked before the scheme proposed can be carried out?— -B . F . —[ It has been asked . Grand Lodge has referred the matter to the Board of General Purposes , who have to report on it , but before they can do anything with it they must obtain the consent of the Trustees , in whom your

supposed brick and a half is vested , and over whom you have no power , for if you had what would there be to hinder you walking off some time with your valuable share of the property ?]

The Estate Of The Royal Commissioners For The Exhibition Of 1851.

THE ESTATE OF THE ROYAL COMMISSIONERS FOR THE EXHIBITION OF 1851 .

( From the Building News . ) The disproportion between projected plans and what is actually accomplished is everywhere written on the pages of history . Nations and rulers from time to time essay great things . Seldom it is that they aro not forced in the end to content themselves with a mere fraction of what they desired , and ruefully to count the cost at which that

modicum even has been obtained . There are few men of middle age but will confess that the realisation of their pet schemes has fallen lamentably below the height to which their sanguine hopes once ardently soared . Not onl y is this the experience of individuals in the narrow details of private life , but , more strikingly so , of those who ivould fain have elevated the people , but have found that

their words havo been wasted on cold ancl inattentive hearers . Non-success , while probable enough in questions concerning social and political matters , is the almost certain result of all efforts which demand cultivation of tbe mind . If the multitude would slide into tho groove so temptingly laid before their very feet , if they had eyes for what we , who wish to be regarded as tbeir teachers , insist

upon * is their interest , society would undergo a transformation hard even to imagine . Whether it be that this assumption of superiority on our part repels instead of attracting , or that the majority find an unconquerable dryness in all that relates to science and art , and are , consequentl y , slow to appreciate the advantages held out to l > o ' . ^ th daily struggle for daily bread leaves JiWe time and less relish for mental provision ; certain it is that schemes which aim at the intellectual improvement

of the mass , are too frequently miserable failures . Their birth-throes arc separated by a brief interval from the moment of dissolution . Sometimes , if longer-lived , and fairly launched with favouring wind and tide , they founder in sight of shore , and sink to a depth far beyond all soundings . AVhothat hears the name of South Kensingtonand

, , looks on ivhat was , within half-a-dozen years , fields and lanes , can fail to bo reminded of the swelling project that emanated from the councils of thc Royal Commissioners for tho Exhibition of 1851 ? Who , that sees those bran-new stucco palaces , can help comparing this picture with that—tho evidences of a brilliant commercial speculation with the proposal for concentrating

all public institutions in one grand focus ? Not that tho Eoyal Commissioners have , even now , altogether abandoned their first lovo ; but , by little and little , their heart-hold has grown fainter and fainter , till at last , they retain only fifteen acres applicable to a scheme that once appeared so vast and important as to demand ten times this extent of land . They

may , perhaps , persuade themselves into the belief ( as would seem to bo thc case ) that , in one way or other , they really havo clone something towards carrying into effect the magniloquent design , which was conceived by them in tho heated flush kindled by the success of the Exhibition in Hyde-park . They may point to thc South Kensington Museum , and connect its existence and tho creation of

the Department of Science and Art with the animated aspirations that found a voice in their second report . "Unhappily , tho facts are against this view . The various art-schools and industrial institutions had a being quite independent of the South Kensington Museum , which was added to them—not they to it—tho whole being fused into a Governmental Department . What are main features of management at Brompton ? The purchase of objects of ornamental art and a svstem

of circulation . Both these methods of imparting public instruction were suggested by a Coinmittee ofthe Houso of Commons in 1836 . As far back as 18-10 a considerable sum in one grant ( £ 10 , 000 ) was voted to purchase examples of art for the Schools of Design . Improvements have , it is true , been grafted on the tree of knowlodge that grows at Brompton . What wonder if its

branches shoot out ivith vigour , when its roots are watered with £ 100 , 000 a-year ! However , let us do no less than justice to the Royal Commissioners , and hasten to admit that this illustrious body , in conjunction with the Society of Arts , formed an " Animal Produce Museum " , on which large sums were spent ; that they erected , at their own cost , the

refreshment and retiring-rooms , of which , when completed , they made a free gift to the Department ; and that they also provided fittings for various sections of the Museum . * But , in making this concession , little beyond providing a building site seems to have been added to tho opportunities before enjoyed by the public —littlethat is to sayas proceeding directlfrom the

, , y Commissioners . To be told that the general taste has improved within the last ten years is to be told that England has not been standing still , but has marched on with the rest of Europe . AVhat has this decennial period not done for architecture ? Both schools , Classic and Gothic , will agree on this point at all events—that there has been

progress of a decidedly hopeful character . Still , it would be difficult as well as invidious to point out any one in tho profession who could be said to be the leader in thc onward movement . Happy he who is content to share with others his renown , and thus attain the summit of dignity within reach of thc true artist—humility ? It boots little to recur to what was once thought of and has now well nigh vanished , except that thc threatened