Order Of The Secret Monitor.

1 his is the history m a nutshell of the squabble attempted to be raise'd around the Order , When the Earl of Warwick succeeded to the Headship of the Order he immediately put himself into communication with ( hose who were responsible for the redoubtable " ukase " which darted across the Midsummer firmament in the year of our Lord 1895 , and ,

leaving behind itself a trail of obscurity and mystification , went off like a damp firework before the eyes of an astonished and awe-struck world . A careful and industrious collector of the results reports ( November , 18 !) 0 ) that be has discovered 57 more or less insignificant pieces , but the most careful search fails to reveal even a semi-ohlilerated mark attesting celestial origin upon more than an infinitesimal

number of them . His Lordshi p naturally asked for some documentary evidence of authorit y for these strange and hostile proceedings , but , up to the present , not a single scrap of such evidence lias been forthcoming . Thus time , the great revealer . has been left to work a solution ; but , meanwhile , Bro . Philbrick , Q . C , Grand Registrar of the Craft , at Lord Warwick ' s request , has drawn up an outline of the situation , so far as he has been able to gauge it , and this has been

. lUIJtiK I'HII . IillK'K , Q . C , D . ll . O . TIIK KAIU , forwarded b y ( he Grand Supreme Ruler of the Order io the Pro Grand Master of English Freemasonry who has kindl y undertaken to mediate between the Order and ( he Grand Master of the Allied Degrees in England , if possible . The " case" of Bro . Philbrick—no mean authority in such matters

—ends with the following weighty paragraph , which , wc think , should not fail to carry conviction to the breast of any Brother troubled with doubts on Ihe matter : — "It is obvious , therefore , that the order of the Grand Master of the Allied Degrees of l ' lth June , IS ! ' ") , is entirel y wrong , and founded on an absolute misstatement of fact ; and the groundwork being thus untenable , ilie whole superstructure necessarily falls . "

The hurly-burly raised has led to numerous and wide-spread inquiries as to the nature of the Order and ( he principles which it inculcates . Our columns have borne ample and willing testimony to the activity of its Conclaves , and five new ones have been added

io the roll . I he last , started in the Province of Essex , of which the Earl is the honoured Provincial Grand Master in the Craft , includes many of the leading names of that Province , and as they have chosen Bro . his Honour Judge Philbrick , Q . C , for their first Supremo Ruler , no doubt we shall hear further of their proceedings .

Order Of The Secret Monitor.

The Order has enlisted in its ranks a very largo proportion of those , who , during the last ten or twenty years have taken the most active part in Masonry in England , and this fact was adduced the other day by Bro . Richard Eve , when he congratulated the founders of the new Conclave , No . 29 , " Earl of Warwick , " on the successful launch of their new venture .

'Hie principles of the Order are those of true and lasting friendship , and its members arc strictly charged to emulate that friendshi p which existed between David and Jonathan of old , to succour the distressed , to comfort the afflicted , but above all to warn in danger , and advise iu difficulty those of their brethren , who may , in their opinion , need such warning and advice , fn every Conclave two or

more ollicers arc appointed yearly for this purpose , and are solemnly charged to use their utmost endeavours to fulfil this their special duty . The ( ic is therefore ( if possible ) even more close than that which binds ordinary Craft Masons and in fulfilling the duties we have named , these officers have brought gladness into many a sad heart , and comfort to many a one bereaved . The fundamental prin i | dcs , distinctive of the English Order , are the basis of its

Ol- ' WAltWltK , ( i . S . li . YV . . 1 . SPHATI . IXG , Ciiuxi ) UKCOHUKH . popularity and success , and combined with the vigorous working of its Head , its Deputy Head , Bio . his Honour Judge Philbrick , Q C , and its Grand Recorder . Pro . W . J . Spratling , B . Sc , F . G . S ., F . C . P ., Past Provincial Grand Treasurer of Middlesex ; Secretary and a Founder of the University of London Lodye , No .-O . 'W ; of the Columbia

Lodge for American and English . Masons , No . 2 : > 97 ; P . M . and a Founder of the Wiekham Lodge , No . 1921 ; P . M . Bnrdeft Lodge , No . 1297 ; P . Z . and Scribe E . of the Ravonsbourne Chapter , No . KIOl ; P . M . and Secretary of the Ron Accord Mark Lodge T . I . ; P . M of the Four Kings' Council Allied Degrees ; HIIIIC time member of the Inviefa Chapter 18 *' , itc , ifcc , ivc . — all of whose portraits we give with this article — ( here is no wonder that the Order

progressing . Wc have always found Bro . Spratling , whose address is 74 , Wickham Road , Brock ley , S . I-J ., most courteous in supplying- particulars of the Order to all inquirers , and as he usually sends a book of

Constitutions with his reply , brethren can see and judge for themselves from the lisl of Grand Ollicers and Past Grand Officers it coiifiiins . whether the Order has or has not taken linn root in the British Fnipiro .

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