Masonic Notes And Queries.

of the sun from the midst of midnight darkness . There was no twilight to warn the sluggish fraternity of the light that was about to shine ; but at once , without preparation , without any graduated progress from semibarbarity to classical eloquence , the Prestonian lectures were given to the Craft in all their fuluess of illustration and richness of symbolism , as a substitute for the

meagre and unmeaning system that had previously existed . Lord Byron is said to have remarked that he awoke one morning and found himself famous ; and Freemasonry , too , might equally have said that on the day when Preston propounded his system , she had awakened from the sleep of centuries to find herself a science . Not that Freemasonry had not always been a

science—that it had not been recognised in the so-called , but very erroneously so-called , dark ages , " the gay science , " of Avhich poets , priests , troubadours , and minstrels sung and guarded Avith a care which , to us , is wonderful , —but that for centuries it had been dormant and in abeyance . From 1717 the Craft had been engaged in something less profitable , but move congenial , than

the pursuit of Masonic knowledge . The pleasant suppers , the bowls of punch , the trolling ditties , the miserable puns , which -would have provoked the ire of Johnson beyond anything that Boswell has recorded , left no time for inquiring into the mere philosophy of Freemasonry . The Revelations of a Square , by Bro . the B . ev . Dr . Oliver , tells a tale whichwhile reflecting credit on the hearts

, , does anything but credit to the heads of the Freemasons of that time . The sociability and congeniality , the eating and drinking , wore quite respectable , but the puns were execrable . The same work also furnishes abundant evidence of the low state of Masonic literature in chose

days ; and , if negative proof is needed on this point , it will be found in the entire absence of any scientific book on Freemasonry until tho appearance of Hutchinson ' s and Preston's works . The lectures of the latter were , therefore , undoubtedly , the inauguration of a new era in the esoteric system of Freemasonry . Preston ' s lectures continued for nearly half a century to be the

authoritative text of the Order , but in 1813 the first act of tho United Grand Lodge % vas to " revise" the system of lectures , and from this source has sprung the twaddle of that bugbear , par excellence , the Emulation Lodge of Instruction , founded upon the rare accomplishments and extensive learning of Peter Gilkes , whose innovations were as numerous as his diction was faulty ; and the other

species of tweedle-dee , the Stability , Avhere they perpetuate the no less learned and involved metaphors of another Peter—Peter Thompson . AVe are told , and have been reminded of it for years , that the two learned preceptors of these bodies are to have power given them to assimilate their working , so that it may become the text for the Order ; but it is to be hoped that , if the Grand

Master and Grand Lodge ever sanction such an absurdity , they will certainly have the proposed alterations submitted to a few men of education , who can write and speak their mother tongue Avith propriety , if not grammatically . " A Young Provincial Brother " may rest assured that Preston ' s lectures contain more truth in one sectionmore real knowled more reverencemore

, ge , , philosophy , more unmixed good of all kinds and less evil , than the whole ofthe Emulation or Stability systems put together . It is to Preston , and to him only , that we owe the debt of having any lectures at the present time , mangled , distorted , and vulgarised though they havo been by those without a scintilla of his genius . ]

HOB . MORRIS ON THE ANCIENT CHARGES . The exhibit of Masonic doctrines , styled " The Masonic Charges , " and first published in 1723 , under the auspices of Payne , Desaguliers , and Anderson , constituted the only code of Masonic law deserving the name universal . They cannot be too carefully studied , or too implicitly obeyed . By how much the various lodges , grand and subordinate around the globe , have been guided by their

dictates , by so much they have performed work which will stand the ravages of time . For comprehensiveness of detail , purity of language , and earnestness of purpose , these Charges are a model worthy the attention of the most learned . The Ancient Charges are divided methodically into six general heads or chapters . The first , which treats of " God and Religion , " establishes

the Masonic duty of morality , and shows why an atheist or irreligious libertine cannot be a Mason . The religion of the institution is defined as " goodness and truth , " a code in which it is said " all men agree , leaving their particular opinions to themselves . " This religion is declared to be the centre of union , and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons that must

otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance . The second chapter comprises the subject of " the Civil Magistrate , Supreme and Subordinate , " and as the first treated of the religion , so this describes the politics of Masonry . In it the Mason is enjoined to be a peaceable subject to the civil powers wherever he resides or works , to avoid plots and conspiracies against the peace and welfare

of the nation , and to be subservient to inferior magistrates . It declares that Masonry has always been injured by war , bloodshed , and confusion , and that its nature is so essentially peaceable that ancient kings and princes Avere known to encourage the Craftsmen , and promote the honour of the fraternity . Such freedom of political opinion is accorded , that brethren engaged in rebellion must not be expelled from the lodge on that account . The third chapter defines the subject " Of Lodges . " Here we learn that the term lodge refers both

to the place and tho assembly , that every brother ought to belong to one , and submit to its by-laws , as well as the regulations of Grand Lodge ; aud that a correct knowledge of a lodge is best acquired through attendance . Reference is made to an ancient rule which inflicted a severe censure upon any member who absented himself from its meetings without good cause . The

members of a lodge are described as " good and true men , free born , of mature and discreet age , no bondmen , no women , no immoral or scandalous men , but of good report . " The fourth chapter establishes the relationship between the various grades of Masonry , official and affiliated , from the Grand Master to the Apprentice . All official preferment , it is enjoined , must be based upon

real worth and personal merit only . Apprentices should only bo received in a lodge whore there is sufficient employment for them , and they must be men without maim or physical defect , and born of honest parentage , so that in their turns they may pass through the various degrees and official grades , even to that of Grand Master . Only Fellow Craftsit is orderedcan be Wardensonl

, , , y AVardens can be elected Masters , aud only Masters be made Grand Masters , who , in addition to the qualification of grade , must be noblemen , or gentlemen of high degree , or eminent scholars , architects , or artists of singular great merit in the estimation of the lodges . A Deputy is allowed the Grand Master , to be the subject of his own choice , Avho like himself , must be a Past Master , and

who may act as Grand Master in his absence . Obedience to these officers , each in his own degree , is strictly enjoined , and this to be manifested " with all humility , reverence , love , and alacrity . " —Ex . Ex .

THE DUTY OE FREEMASONS IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS . One of the American journals , lately received , whilst speaking on eleciioneering matters , says a writer on the duty of Masons in political affairs thus offers his advice to the Craft . As , with us , we never interfere in such matters , it may be worth inserting to show one of the features of Masonic teaching in the States . —Ex . Ex . —

"This is a year of unusual political excitement . Our whole country seems to be convulsed from the centre to the circumference . Questions of policy are agitated that seem to tend directly , and speedily , to a dissolution of tkefairestfabricever erected to civil and religious liberty ;