Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC TOMBSTONES . The Masonic devices on tombstones appear to me to be rather the exception than the rule . In Cowie churchyard , Kincardmshire , N . B ., there is a very unique one . Within half a circle the sun , moon , five-pointed starsquare and coaipassesgavelmaul

, , , , chisel , plumb-line , level , gauge , and perfect ashlar are arranged in beautiful symmetry , and among these devices are interspersed the words " their Sou cut , " and below , "this stone . In memory of , " & c . —A

ME . COX S IETTEB . Bros . Hughan's and Haye ' s interpretation of this letter are certainly very creditable to those gentlemen ; but they might please inform ignorant brethren like myself in what crucible they try those curiosities , so as to brm 2 out the meaning . —A

MASONIC EELIGION . On this point there ought not to be a shadow of doubt . Our worship is to the God of Light , to "Him who shall lead us safely through the dark valley and shadow of death , aud raise us from the grave to admit us to the full glory of His perfect light , of which our Order is but a prototype . —A

ELETJSINIAN MISTEEIES . A may consult Potter's " Greek Antiquities , " Mackey's "Lexicon of Freemasonry , " Faber ' s " Cabiri , " and St . Croix ' s " Les Mysteres du Paganisine , " for accounts of these mysteries . Abundance of information will he found in " Joannis Meursi Eleusinia sive de Cereris Eleusinae sacro , ac festo . Lugd . Bat . Elzevir , 1619 . —A . 0 . HATE .

MASONIC TOMBSTONE IN HOLTK . 0 OD CHAPEl . One of the tombstones in the chapel has a plain cross and calvary ; on the dexter side a pair of compasses over a book ( the Bible ) , and on the sinister side a square over a mallet . All that is legible of the inscription is " Hie jacet honorab . Yir Johannes . • et . . . Anno dui 15-13 . " —A . 0 . HATE .

EDINBTJEGn FEEEMASON ANTIQUITIES . Among the collection of the late Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe . the celebrated antiquarian , was a finelycarved oak door of a small press or ambry , having a figure of the Yirgiu carved in low relief on the panel , which belonged to one of the Edinburgh lodges . Wilson

, in his " Memorials of Edinburgh , " vol . IL , p . 20 'J , writes , "In the hall of St . David ' s Lodge , in Hyuford ' s Close , a still more venerable antique used to be shown—an original portrait of ICing Solomon , painted for the first Grand Lodge at the founding of the Orderwhile the Temple of Jerusalem was in

, progress ! . . . Some of the brethren entertain doubts of its being quite so old , though some venerable octogenarian answered our inquiries by an ancient legend of the Burgh , which bears that certain of the town guard of Edinburgh were present in Jerusalem at the Crucifixion , and carried off this venerable portrait from the

Temple during the commotions that ensued . " The St . David ' s Lodge have lost this venerable relic , or the Royal Order , which was preserved among these brethren , may now possess it . The Royal Order was founded by Robert the Bruce , in 1314 , and the Lodge St . David was chartered in 1739 . I should like a little explanation relative to the Royal Order , and hoAv the St- David ' s brethren

Masonic Notes And Queries.

became its protectors . Some unbelievers in Masonry state Robert the Bruce Avas as much the founder of it as Mahomet ; that it sprang out of the 18 th degree , and was largely indebted to the Euphues of John Lyly for its affected and bombastic style of language , and to its fabricator for its very simple rhyming

ritual . I have heard this given as a specimen of the ritual . Q . —AVho art thou that kr . oekesfc at that door ? If thou hast no business here , knock thou no more , Or else thy head , with my sword , I will score . —SIE PATRICK CUEIOSITT .

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . AN IMPOSTOR . TO THE EDITOR OF THE FltEElIASOITS' MAGAZINE AXD MASONIC MIEHOH . DEAE SIE AND BHOTHEE . —Will you allow me , through the medium of your valuable paper , to put

the Craft on their guard against an unworthy brother who has succeeded in victimising not only myself but , I believe , every brother resident in this neighbourhood ? The individual in question called on me on the 17 th of December last , and after proving himself a Master Masonand stating that he had been

, sent on to me by another brother resident in this province ( this I have since ascertained to be true , the brother in question having been gulled like myself ) , he informed me that he was a Pole who had lost his

all iu the recent struggle for independence , that he earned a slight subsistence by obtaining orders for a Gazetteer that a London bookseller is publishing , and that he was in urgent distress , which , he appealed to me , as a brother Mason , to relieve . Believing him , aud seeing by his book that many brethren in this

neighbourhood with whom I am acquainted had done tlie same thing , I , remembering a peculiar moment to which I need not further allude , gave him an order for the book in question , and relieved him in addition . It has since been brought to my knowledge that his representations were entirehj false , that so far from

being in need of assistance , he lives in a house for which he pays £ 35 a year rent ; that so far from having "lost his all fighting for his country in Poland , " lie has been a traveller for the last ten years , and that his representations were altogether false . Under these circumstancesI feel it riht to put

, g my brethren on their guard against this unworthy brother . He is a stout man , of a good average height , with reddish hair , and ( I think ) beard , and small eyes . If you can find room for this brotherly warning , you will oblige

Yours fraternally , T . E . HALSEY , S . W . and W . M . elect , Westminster and Keystone Lodge ( No . 10 ) , J . AV . Watford Lodge ( ISTo . 404 ) . Gt . Gaddesden , Hemel Hempstead . March 29 th , 1867 . [ Too much caution cannot he used in testing those

who go about soliciting alms . This practice is pursued to a great extent by pretended Ereemasons , not alone in this country but in America . Our correspondent will sec that we have omitted the names of most respectable tradesmen who would , of course , have no knowledge of what had been done by un-- Hoitlvr persons . —ED . P . M . ]