Numismatic Rarities.

among the fragmentary debris written and graven , which ( apart from mere Patristic records ) are all that remain to us of the most important epoch in the spread of Christianity . Of the very early Christians , fully four-fifths are said to have been of the Manichssan sect of the Gnostics , as thev

are called , which the Pauhtes subsequently succeeded m exterminating from Europe , but whose tenets ( descended from earliest times ) long survived in holes and corners as a secret system , with which our modern Freemasonry has much in common .

" We have seen the Rosy Cross with the eight points of the Templars—the Cross of Christ , and of Manes and of Buddha , and the Rose of Sharon , symbols of the Templars and of the Rosicrucians . . . They are now become in a very particular manner , exclusively Christian

Orders , and on this account are thought to be only a bastard kind of Masons . But here are two mistakes . They are real Masons , and they ought to be of that universal Christianity . . . the secret system so often alluded to by the Christian Fathers . This accounts for the Kniedits

Templar being Christians and uniting with the Battanians or Ishmaelites , or As-chas-dim or Assassins . These were the Chaldaai of Daniel , of the Romans in the time of the early Emperors , called Chaldoei , Mathematici , and Architectonic ! , and who were banished and persecuted by them . They were

a species of Sodahtia or secret Order of which the Government became jealous . They are the Culdees of Iona and of tho Crypt of York Minster , where the General Masonic Lodge of England was held . They are the Gnostic Manichaaans , who possessed the round churches at the Temple in

London , Maplestead , Northampton and Cambridge , and who , in time , became the Templars . In what other way the Templars could become possessed of those churches I do not know . Perhaps they might be rebuilt by them , but the Saxon order of Architecture in the church of Cambridge

shows a date before the usually supposed existence of the Order of Templars in England . The Templars in other countries did not build their churches round , but perhaps they found them here in the hands of their brethren the Culdees , and they coalesced with their brethren whom they found here , when they brought their doctrines from the

Crusades . . . All our old establishments of Collegiate churches , deans , and chapters , were Culdee establishments , which accounts for the Culdees in them not being destroyed by the Romish Church . All the round Chapter houses of our

Cathedrals were built round for the same reason ... In these Chapters and in the crypts , till the XIII . century , the secret religion was celebrated far from the profane vulgar . From this cause the bridge of Ham or 'Om corrupted into Cambridge , and Isis and Ox , or Ball of Oxford . "

The Arrangements For The Installation.

THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE INSTALLATION .

THE Stewards appointed to assist at this important ceremony held their first meeting at Freemasons ' Hall on Tuesday , Bro . Monckton . President of the Board of General Purposes , took the chair , and there was a very numerous attendance , among the brethren present being

Bro . Sir Albert Woods , Garter , Grand Director of Ceremonies ; Bro . Ma . Mclntyre Q . C ., Grand Registrar ; Bro . Savage , Grand Secretary Hervey , Bro . T . Fenn , Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies . The object of the meeting was to explain the arrangements that had been made for

admitting and accommodating those entitled to be present in the Royal Albert Hall , and Bro . Monckton , in opening the proceedings , bore willing testimony to the energy with which Bros . Sir Albert Woods and Fenn had designed and carried them out . Another object in calling this meeting

was to instruct the ( stewards in the duties they would be called upon to perform . Accordingly , Sir Albert Woods briefly addressed the meeting , confining himself chiefly to a few remarks as to the valuable aid rendered him by Bro . Fenn , to whom , with the concurrence of

the M . W . G . M ., he had entrusted the duties connected with the Hall , and to whom , therefore , he delegated the task of explaining what had been done thus far . Bro . Fenn accordingly showed , by means of diagrams ,

how the entrance of members would be regulated , and also that as regards time all would have to be seated by 2 . 30 p . m , when the doors would be close tyled , and all communication with the outside world cut off .

The Arrangements For The Installation.

Bro . Fenn further stated that a member would only be admitted at * jhe door indicated on his ticket , and would ! forwards have to prove his identity . Some of the means

which will be taken to prevent unauthorised persons from entering wero ably explained by the worthy Brother , who added that further precautionary means to the same end would be communicated in due course to the Stewards .

The ceremony , it was calculated , would occupy about an hour and a half . It was also mentioned by Sir Albert Woods that a drawing of the Steward ' s Jewel commemorative of this auspicious event will shortly be submitted to His Royal Highness .

It should be added that no requests for alterations or farther applications for tickets can possibly be entertained . Further , Prov . Grand Officers who attend as membprs of

Grand Lodge , must have over their Provincial Grand Lodge Clothing ( if worn ) the collars of the offices by virtue of which they are members of' Grand Lodge , in accordance with the rule laid down in the Book of

Constitutions , page 123 , line 13 . Provincial Grand Officers , who are only Master Masons , may wear their purple aprons . Brethren are likewise advised not to bring their clothing in boxes , so as to save themselves such personal inconvenience as otherwise is inevitable .

The Royal Masonic Institution For Girls.

THE ROYAL MASONIC INSTITUTION FOR GIRLS .

THE third meeting of the Board of Stewards for the above Institution was held yesterday afternoon , at Freemasons' Hall , at 4 p . m ., the business being' to receive a communication from the Musical Committee , and to fix a convenient day for drawing for seats at the tables at the

approaching Festival . The day for this Festival is definitively settled for Tuesday the 11 th May proximo , and the R . W . Bro . Stone P . M ., Past Grand Steward and Lord

Mayor of London , will occupy the chair on the occasion . We are unable to give any account of the proceedings this week , but we hope to find a space for them in our next issue .

New Caledonia.—Expulsion Of Residents, And Closing Of Masonic Lodges.

NEW CALEDONIA . —EXPULSION OF RESIDENTS , AND CLOSING OF MASONIC LODGES .

WE extract the following from an Auckland ( New Zealand ) paper , kindly sent us by a friend : —¦ A Correspondent residing at Noumea , in a letter dated 11 th January , and writing to the Sydney Morning Herald , states that on tho 6 th of that month the man-of-war steamer "Infernol , " arrived at the chef lieu of Now Caledonia from Sydney , and brought with her important telegraphic despatches from the French Government to

the Governor of New Caledonia and farther , that on the morning of the 7 th it was currently reported in Noumea that an order for the expulsion of some of the civil inhabitants ( besides numerous recalls for officials ) had arrived from Paris . Our correspondent says that the first certainty as to these reports was evidenced by the peremptory recall of several

officialsa circumstance which appears to have taken all Noumea by surprise ; but when the remainder of the telegram came to bo known , we are assured that the " whole population , civil and official , was thrown into consternation . " This siate of things was , we hear , intensified when it became known that Mr . Puech ( of the firm of Ratabonl and Puech ) was one of the persons to be expelled

from the colony . It appears that Messrs . Rataboul aud Puech are amongst the principal merchants and importers of Noam ^ a , receiving every two months a cargo from Bordeaux , and owning the schooner " Noumea , " regularly running between this port and Noumea . The same fato was found to be awarded to Mr . S . Sohn , timber merchant and saw-mill propiretor

( well-known in the Australian colonies ); the other parties to be " expelled" being Mr . Blaise , a grocer ; Mr . Gassan , formerly storekeeper at the Dacos Peninsula ; and Mr . Dussert , a publican . Our correspondent at Noumea , who signs his own name in full , further states that tho same telegraphic despatch , which imperatively directed the recall of numerous o licials , and the expulsion of the

above-named citizens , also sent an order to close the Masonic Lodge of Noumea , named "L'Union Caledon'enne , " with a distinct prohibidon to open any similar " establishment" in the colony or its dependencies . Onr correspondent states that neither motive nor explanation is given for the above detailed acts , and that every one is at a loss to find the key to the enigma , considering that all the gentlemen thus

dealt with are highly respected and esteemed by the whole population . Two months' grace are given to each party marked out for expulsion —to allow them to arrange their affairs . Several of them intend , it is understood , to proceed to seek redress . The above communication is attested by a signed letter , and by neatly executed photographs of the Order for the expulsion of Mr . Pnech , and of the Order for closing the Masonic Lodge .