Masonic Notes And Queries.

croAvn may adorn the head , or a sceptre the hand , the blood in his veins is derived from the common parent of mankind , aud is no better than that of his meanest subject . The statesman , the senator , and the artist , are there taught , that- equal with others , they are exposed by nature to infirmity and disease , and that an unforeseen misfortuneor a disordered framemay

im-, , pair their faculties , and reduce them to a level with the meanest of their species . This consideration is a check to pride , and incites courtesy of behaviour . Men of inferior talents , who are not placed by fortune in such exalted stations , are instructed to regard their superiors with respectwhen they behold them

, voluntarily divested of the external trappings of worldly grandeur , aud condescending , in the badge of innocence and bond of friendship , to trace wisdom and to follow virtue , assisted by those who are of a rank beneath them . Yirtue is " true nobility ; wisdom

is the channel by ivhich virtue is directed and con veyed ; wisdom and virtue alone mark distinction among Masons . Dr . Johnson , speaking of a lady who promulgated the doctrine of reducing all classes to the same level , used to relate the following anecdote : — " One day , when I was at her house , I put on a very grave countenance and said to herMadamI

, , am now become a convert to your way of thinking . I am convinced that all mankind are upon an equal footing ; and to give you an unquestionable proof that I am in earnest , here is a very sensible , civil , well-behaved fellow-citizen—your footman . I desire that he may be allowed to sit down and dine with

us . I thus , sir , showed her the absurdity of the levelling doctrine . She has never liked me since . Sir , your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves , but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves . They ivould all have some people under them . Why not , then , have some people above them ?"—Ex . Ex .

THE EELIGION OE MASONEY . As Christian Masons , acknowledging the divinity of Christ , we have introduced the Bible into our lodges to manifest our behalf in the doctrines ivhich it inculcates ; in like manner the followers of Moses , Mahomet , aud Burmali may introduce into their

Masonic assemblies their Pentateuch , their Alcoran , and their Veclan , and yet the unity of Masonry would remain—the essential principles on which she moves would be tbe same—she would still declare to her votaries , " I regard not to what sect you attach yourselves ; venerate the popular religion of your

respectis-e countries ; follow the light of your understanding ; forget not , however , the doctrine of the religion of nature ; adore the Great Architect of the Universe , acknowledge the immortal soul and look forward to a state of future retribution , when the virtuous of all religions and countries shall meet together and enjoy never-fading bliss . " — UNIYEESALIST .

Ar01202

SOME men so dislike tho dust kicked up by-the generation they belong- to , that , being unable to pass , they lag behind it THERE are calumnies that kill women , but do only a slight injury to men as certain reptiles kill with poison in the warm months , and only would in the cold ones . HAVE frank explanations with friends in cases of affronts . They sometimes save a perishing friendship ; but secret discontent and mistrust always end badly .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor in not responsible for the opinions expressed ly Correspondents . EIIEMASONRY AED THE GUILDS . TO TIIE EDIIOn OF Till . rn _ 3 E _ X _ . SOXS' MAGAZINE AXD JIASOiHC MIP . I-OR . DEAE SIE AND BEOTHEE , —In number 261 of the MAGAZINE , page 520 , a " Yorkshireman " asks from

which guild Ereemasonry is derived . Every wellinformed brother who has studied tho valuable aud scientific works of Bro . George ELloss , the eminent Masonic author ( and as such acknowledged by the whole fraternity in Germany , Eranee , America , and

the Netherlands ) would have answered—it is derived from the operative guilds , from the operative fraternities ofthe lnedisaval times . A nameless brother , who , I suppose , does not works the earnest historical researches of Bros . Schroecler , . Eloss , Eallou , Keller ,

& c , replies in the MAGAZINE , " jSTone . The mere assertion ought to show to any one of common sense that , by according to the Craft a guild , its antiquity is seriously impaired . If Ereemasonry is the daughter of such a guild , what becomes of all the

pre-Christian legends of the Order—those of Solomon ' s temple ? Those who advocate such a doctrine must be possessed of very illogical ideas . "—u . 5 . f . Whether this nameless brother thinks himself alone logical in his ideas or not , I do not know ; but I should like to be informed what works on Masonic

history he has written to prove his views and assertions on the high antiquity of Freemasonry , and to contradict the works of Bro . Eloss , the praieeplor latomorum . Concerning the antiquity of-the Craft , nobody can make it older than it really is ; and if there is

any good in Ereemasonry , its value remains the same . Our fraternity ( not Order ) may be only some hundred years old or some thousand years . Every brother who denies that Ereemasonry is derived from the fraternity of the mediroval

Ereemasons , stands on the basis of an unprovable hypothesis of mere imagination , not on the basis of historical facts . What becomes of all the pre-Christian legends of the Order ? Well , what is a legend ? Is a legend a historical truth , or only a

poetical invention , a fairy tale ? Legends , traditionary legends , like tho Masonic , ivhich only have a symbolical character and no historical value like ours , have had in Germany authority in all—nearly all guilds—for example , the smiths , and many other

trades . Freemasonry would be the same royal art without the legend of Solomon ' s temple or that of the third degree , as it is with it . One can be a very