Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

MASONIC ANECDOTES . The ensuing is the full title of the work which , a correspondent mentions , was seen in the library at Denton Court , one day in tbe autumn of 1858 : — " Dictionnaire amusant et instructif ou Recueil de Decouvertes , Inventions , Faits interessans ,

Eveneniens remarquables , et Anecdotes curieuses . Par F . P . A . MATJGENET . Paris : 1809 . 2 vols , octavo . " These volumes were included in a portion of my library collections , sold by Messrs . Sotheby and Wilkinson four years ago . They contain , as I believenot more than three Masonic anecdotesa

, , memorandum of which was inserted hy me in a former Place Book , when they first came under my notice . I transcribe the memorandum : — " 1 . The four lodges of Amsterdam meet , and subscribe forty thousand Dutch florins in aid of a meritorious brother in distress . 2 . The liberation of the

Freemasons imprisoned at Naples , said to be owing to the solicitations of a ' Grande Principe . ' 3 . Story of a poor fellow who , having heard that the Freemasons in their meetings manufactured gold , in the hope of learning the secret , concealed himself behind the tapestry of the room in which the lodge was held . "CHARLES BURTON COOPEE .

FREEMASONRY AND ASTROLOGY . ¦ I purchased lately at a book-stall in London an old and , I believe , a rare work— "A Complete Illustration of the Celestial Science of Astrology ; or , the Art of Foretelling Future Events and Contingencies by the Aspects , Positions , and Influences of the Heavenly Bodies ; founded ou Natural Philosophy , Scripture ,

Reason , and Mathematics . By ( Bro . ) Ebenezer Sibly , Astro . Phil . Printed for Green and Co ., No . 176 , near Surrey-street , Strand , London , 1788 . " The dedication runs thus : "To the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons . "

" Gentlemen and Brethren , —The antiquity of your excellent fraternity , the universality of its plan , ancl the moral rectitude and purity of its design ,, claim a decided pre-eminence over every other bond of society into which mankind have ever formed themselves

for the mutual welfare and happiness of each other . The nobleness of soul which first prompted to its institution , and the benevolence of heart which has ever since prevailed throughout all its members , will remain a subject of lasting admiration ! " To you , thereforeas the promoters of liberal

sen-, timent , and the guardians of every useful science , I commit this venerable pile of ancient astrology ; a fabric obviously constructed by the Great Architect of the World , primeval with the ordination of nature , and inseparable from one of the grand subjects of your official contemplation .

" This science , by being little known , and less understood , may meet with censure aud disapprobation from that description of learned , as well as of illiterate men , whose rule of faith uniformly keeps pace with their own arbitrary conceptions . But the dispassionate part of mankind with every good Mason will candidly weigh the evidence ' by the balance of the Sanctuary , ' and reserve their sentence till after a fair and impartial trial .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

" Sheltered , therefore , under the wing of your fraternal regard , and patronised by every sober admirer of the secret works of nature , I shall attempt to lay the foundation stone of an illustrious building , sacred to Urania , npon which some more able and ingenious workman , sanctioned by your patronage and protection , may hereafter raise the edifice to out-top the skies , and , like Jacob ' s ladder , p ierce the starry regions , leading the intellectual faculties of the soul to the most sublime contemplation of God and

nature . "I have the honour to profess myself , with unequivocal attachment and esteem , Gentlemen , " Your accepted brother and faithful servant , " Portsmouth Common , " E . SIBLY . " In the year of Masonry 5784 . " I am bound to say that Bro . Sibly manifests

considerable ability and erudition throughout the work for which he claims the patronage of his brethren . Can any brother supply information respecting this astrological Freemason ? Max Mtiller , in his very learned " Lectures on the Science of Language" delivered at the Royal

Institu-, tion of Great Britain , in 1801 , says , p . 9 , " Astrology was not such mere imposition as it is generally supposed to have been . It is counted as a science by so sound and sober a scholar as Melancthon , and even Bacon allows it a place among the sciences ,, though admitting that ' it had better intelligence and

confederacy with the imagination of man than with his reason . ' In spite of the strong condemnation which Luther pronounced against astrology , astrology continued to sway the destinies of Europe ; and , a hundred years after Luther , the astrologer was the counsellor of princes and generalswhile the founder

, of modern astronomy died in poverty and despair . In our time , the very rudiments of astrology are lost and forgotten . " However , to these remarks Midler appends the following note : — " According to a writer in 'Notes aud Queries' ( 2 nd series , vol . x ., p . 500 ) , astrology is not so entirely extinct as we suppose .

One of our principal writers , " he states , " one of our leading barristers , and several members of the various antiquarian societies , are practised astrologers at this hour . But no one cares to let bis studies be known

so great is the prejudice that confounds an art requiring the hig hest education with the jargon of the gipsy fortune-teller . " Will any brother who , impelled either by tbe love of antiquarian research or a desire to seek into the mystic , has given his attention to astrology , kindly communicate the result of his investigations to the undersigned , care of the editor of the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE ? His communication will be held strictly confidential , and be gratefully received . —JOHN KINGSTON , P . Prov . G . C .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The ~ Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents .. FREEMASONRY IN JERSEY . TO THE EDITOR OP THIS EKEEMASOIfS' MAGAZINE AND SIASONIC MIEEOB . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —At the close of my letter which you kindly inserted on Nov . 18 th , I said that having exhausted the subject , I should not weary you and your readers by anv further communication .