Correspondence.

would be to sow the seeds of future discord and dissension iu South Australia , just a * such a course pursued ye ira ago across the Atlantic has done iu the dominion . It does uot require any largo amount <> f worldly wisdom or common s ^ nse to perceive that to authorize an independent and practically irresponsible Lxlge to remain working

in open defiance of the legitimate local Masonio authority in any country , 13 to oourt future trouble and disaster . If thirty Lodgi' 3 out of thirty-three aro content to join the moveraont in question , the remaining three Lodges should , if they are animated by a true Masonic spirit , cheerfully acquiesce in what is plainly the desire of the Brotherhood as a body .

In Masonry , as in all systems of society , there are , of ooarse , always to be found a f . > w cantankerous people who will for ever oppose everything and everybody to the bittor end ; but these are the very folks that ought to hi laast euoouraged . They will never

be of any real sorvioa to tha Craft , aud if lefc in the position of being able to occasion perpentual irritation and annoyance , they will , as in tho oase of Canada , eventually turu out to be a " casus belli . " I am , Yours fraternally , T . B . WHTTEHBAD .

OUR INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS . THE following table shows the annual average contributions of the various Provinces to tho three Institutions for the seven years 1878-1884 , with their respective totals : —

BOYS . London ... ... ... ... 5890 10 0 Bedfordshire ... ... ... 5 11 0 Berks and Buoks ... ... ... 211 5 8 Bristol ... ... ... ... 11 14 0 Cambridgeshire ... ... ... 28 0 2 Cheshire ... ... 164 11 1 Cornwall ... ... ... ... 27 18 9 Cumberland and Westmoreland ... 180 8 7 Derbyshire ... ... ... 147 12 8 Devonshire ... ... ... 126 9 4

Dorsetshire ... ... ... 179 15 10 Durham ... ... ... ... 251 15 7 Essex ... ... ... ... 163 11 10 Gloucestershire ... ... ... 313 14 9 Hants and the Isle of Wight ... ... 268 18 11 Herefordshire ... ... ... 7 15 10 Hertfordshire ... ... ... 113 12 3 Kent ... ... ... ... 674 3 9 Lancashire ( East ) .. ... ... 499 3 0 Lancashire ( West ) ... ... ... 546 2 9 Leicestershire and Rutland ... ... 104 7 2 Lincolnshire ... . ... 25 8 0 Middlesex ... ... ... ... 270 5 3 Monmouthshire ... ... ... 99 9 0 Norfolk 96 11 3 North Wales and Salop ... ... 132 5 5 Norths and Hunts ... ... ... 30 15 0

Northumberland ... ... ... 265 18 7 Nottinghamshire ... ... ... 6076 Oxfordshire ... ... ... 79 11 0 Somerset ... ... ... 127 7 1 S . Wales ( East ) ... ... ... 159 8 9 S . Wales ( West ) 95 10 0 Staffordshire ... ... ... 191 8 2 Suffolk ... ... 146 1 0 Surrey ... ... ... ... 126 5 4 Sussex ... ... ... ... 257 13 2 Warwickshire ... ... ... 169 12 3 Wiltshire ... ... ... 44 10 0 Worcestershire ... ... ... 189 13 2 Yorkshire ( North and East ) ... ... 191 12 0 Yorkshire ( West ) ... ... ... 609 7 5 Channel Islands ... ... ... 45 0 0

BENEVOLENT . GIRLS . £ s d 6927 12 3 5883 2 6 - 18701 4 9 — 6 18 0 12 9 0 211 17 3 173 19 1 = 597 2 0 — 36 6 0 48 0 0 97 14 7 19 1 0 144 15 9 97 14 7 168 6 1 430 11 9 101 12 2 70 19 0 200 9 11 25 10 3 57 7 0 263 5 10 77 2 8 146 7 1 371 2 5 67 7 10 174 12 10 = 368 10 0 94 16 5 115 0 0 389 12 3 56 11 9 113 18 0 = 419 5 4

139 7 2 207 2 6 510 1 6 146 2 3 213 3 9 703 0 9 204 19 9 348 19 7 = 1122 18 3 — 158 = 916 356 3 8 136 19 4 606 15 3 311 16 5 369 8 1 = 1355 8 3 718 4 9 163 9 8 = 1380 17 5 213 11 5 201 18 0 = > 961 12 2 95 1 3 76 11 0 275 19 5 9 16 4 13 10 0 48 14 4 332 0 3 316 11 2 918 16 8 70 8 10 70 10 0 240 7 10 39 2 5 52 17 4 188 11 0 33 7 7 115 6 0 280 19 0 125 9 3 — = 156 4 3 — 29 19 3 295 17 10

53 9 8 19 7 9 133 4 11 114 12 4 123 7 1 317 10 5 105 18 2 156 7 5 = 389 12 8 — 145 17 1 = 305 5 10 80 17 10 114 2 1 = 290 9 11 81 11 9 259 0 9 532 0 8 156 2 7 95 6 3 397 9 10 234 2 3 104 11 8 = 464 19 3 203 0 0 240 15 0 701 8 2 31 2 9 320 15 2 = 521 10 2 102 15 162 18 0 309 9 5 78 3 0 134 2 0 401 18 2 159 2 3 157 11 5 = 508 5 8 890 17 10 710 0 0 = 2410 5 3 73 19 0 — = 118 19 0

ERRATA . —In the fourth line of my letter of 4 th inst ., for " girls at £ 32 per head , " read " girls at £ 34 per head . " In the heading of first column of figures , seoond table , for " Jan . " read " July . " Fraternally yours , P . M . 1607 .

Derivation Of Masonic Words.

DERIVATION OF MASONIC WORDS .

TASSEL is one of those words which has lost one of its original meanings , as the meaning we affix to it is not to be found in the written language . I suppose it

is the substantive corresponding to tesselated , and has been corrupted from tessara , Latin—tessere , French—and so to tessella and tassel . Tessara adie , is from the Greek word for four .

" Tessellated pavements , pavimentnm tessallatum , a rich pavement of mosaic work made of curious small square marbles , bricks or tiles , called tesselce , from the form of

dice . "—Rees ' s Cyclopaedia . " Some of the tesseraick work of the Romans has lately been dug up . " ( 1712)—Sir R . Atkyn ' s History of Gloucester .

Mosaic . I can find no probable derivation of this word as applied to pavements . Obviously it has no reference to Moses in this sense . " Some , " says Richardson , " derive it from the Greek word meaning neat or elegant ; others suppose it a corruption of musaicon , from musivum . "

Mosaic work was called by the aDcients opus muvinm , and tbe workmen musicarii . The ancient mosaic gold ( not the improved alloy of that name now in use , but a sulphuret of tin ) was called by the alchemists aurum mnsicum . The word mosaic frequently occurs among the early English authors .

Derivation Of Masonic Words.

" But where it is made of lesser stones , or rather morsels of them , assisted with small squares of thick glass , of which some are gilded or cemented in the stac

or plaster , it is called mosaick work opus mnsicum . — Evelyn , p 423 . " Each beauteous flower , Iris all hues , roses , and jessamin ,

Rear d high their flourish d heads between and wrought Mosaic . " —Milton—Paradise Lost , Bk . IV . Burke , in his celebrated speech on American Taxation , in a magnificent description of Lord Chatham ' s Cabinet

( then dissolved ) uses the following graphic metaphor : " He made an administration so checked and speckled —he put together a piece of joining so crossly indented and whimsically dovetailed—a Cabinet so variously inlaid —such a piece of diversified mosaic—here a tessellate

pavement without cement—here a bit of black , and there a bit of white—patriots and courtiers , king ' s friends and Republicans , Whigs and Tories , treacherous friends and open enemies—that it was indeed a very curious show , but utterly unsafe to touch and unsure to stand on . " —Hebrew Leader .

Bro . J . H . Jennings announces his Annual Benefit at the Oxford for the 29 th instant .