Ancient And Accepted Scottish Rite.

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE .

We recently published the concordat between the Supreme Council of Charlestown , U . S ., and those Councils associated with it , and the Supreme Council of Egypt , whereby the latter Council recalled the warrant granted by it to form a Supreme Council in New Zealand . The following is ' the reply of the latter Supreme Council to that proceeding : —

Supreme Council for New Zealand . Valley of New Zealanel , Duncdm , 21 st November , 187 S F . F . Ooni , ES « ., 33 " , G . G . S . R . C , Grand Orient of Egypt , Cairo . Dear Sir and Illustrious Brother , —

I am directed to acknowledge receipt ot your letter of the 8 th September , addressed to our III . Sov . Grand Commander , conveying the extraordinary intelligence that your august body " has btcu obliged to withdraw the warrant it granted us , and recognise the right of the British Supreme Councils in New Zealand . " As this is the first official communication 1 have been

favouted with since your friendly one received about twelve months ago , I need scarcely say its perusal has been attended with pain and surprise to the members of our Supreme Council , upon whom you would evidently endeavour to aim a cruel blow without the slightest warning upon your part , or offence of any inscription given upon theirs , to warrant it . Surely such conduct calls tor some

further explanation from you than the mere letter above acknowledged , especially as I have been in regular coirespondence with you up to a late date without drawing from you the slig htest hint of what was going on , or what your views were upon a matter of such importance to us , until at last you deemed it right to issue im coup d ' etat as undeserved as it is improper anel unconstitutional .

Allow me now to review with you the establishment and progress of our Supreme Council , not only as matters of fact , but for the general information of similar bodies throughout the universe . By warrant from you , elated 16 th October , 1875 , our Council was opened , as advised to you ( and announced in the newspapers here ) on nth June , 1876 . .

Some time afterwards , through you and gooel sincere friends in the old countiy , we learned yours was deemed a spurious Council , and consequently recognition woulel be denied us ( vide " Scottish Annual Reporter for 1877 " ) . Subseeiuently it was announced to us that a hotly styling

itself the Supreme Council of England and Wales and Biitish Dependencies claimed the sole right of working the A . and A . Rite Degrees in any British colony or possession . Seeing your council was in existence for some time previous to granting our warrant , this important claim must have been of course known to your members ,

tbougn unknown to us . Under the warrant accorded to us , wc proceeded to open Rose Croix Chapters , receive monies , confer eicgrees , anel issue the necessary certificates throughout New Zealand . These proceedings you were iluly made acquainted with , afterwards acknowledging same in yeiur " Bulletin OHi . rial , " praising us for our ability , and thanking us for

naming the chapters after 111 . Bro . Zola , & c , eVc . Our proceedings have always been conducted openly and above board , anel the members perfecteel in the 18 th Degree selected with care from the Craft throughout New Zealand as fit for the advancement , not only in a social point of view , but also from their standing as Freemasons high in office and of long experience .

Acknowledging the foregoing to be strictly correctwhich you cannot than otherwise do—I fail to comprehend on what ground you have submitted to be dictated to , principally no doubt by the Supreme Councils of Englanel and Scotland , both irregular in their formation and constitution , as you are well aware , and yet capable , in their conceit and lust for power , of coercing a properly

constituteel body like yours , well and authoritatively leiunded , to join them in an action towards us which you will pardon me staling is the reverse of honourable . Of the English Council , the founder of it ( General . Pike ) wiites as ollows : "To form the Supreme Council of England and Wales , the Supreme Council of our Neirthcru Jurisdiction sent to

Dr . Cruceiix the obligation of 33311 ! , rccogiuseel him as an honorary member , and sent him the ritual when he had returned the obligation signed , aud empowered him to create that of England and Wales . What could be more iiregular ? Yet it . is too late to question the legitimacy of that body . " The position anil anieccdents of the Supiemc Council of

Scotland have been so ably challenged by worthy Masons at home as to require- no remark at my hands ; and your own correspondence gives ample proofs of their underhand , deceitful workings against your own Council . If then you were moved to act as you have done to acquire the mere empty honour (?) of recognition from such bodies , all I can assure vou , with deep regret , is that the members of

our Council can scarcely comprehend or believe it . You will in the future not find yourselves an independent power , but lather shorn of your proper dignity , and obliged to follow what other Councils wish or dictate , with the threat of " non-recognition " always held over you . Heller far lei possess Masonic honour and independence and remain isolated than occupy such an unenviable position as this . 1 need scarcely urgue with you the epiestioii of

attempting to recall a charter once granted anel acted on , as the New Zealand one has been . The grant of the charter is irrevocable , and its abolition impossible . All that your Supreme Council can really do is to withdraw ihe bond of amity which has for more than two years bound our Councils together ; but any attempt on the part ol your Council to recall the degrees we have receiveel from you and have conferred on others under the authority of your

Ancient And Accepted Scottish Rite.

charter must be absolutely futile . Holding these views , which are shared by the other members of our Council , I am at a loss to comprehend the object of your circular of 7 th September , as to all just , upright , anil well-informed Masons it must appear as so much waste paper . Had you denied our Council continued recognition , or declined further correspondence with it , such action could under the

circumstances have been unelerstood , but to attempt acme ! wrong to those who ( you will pardon me for saying so ) have rather added to than detracted from the lustre of the Granei Orient of Egypt is an act that eventually must meet with universal condemnation and contempt . Without further preface , I now beg in my official capicity to hanel you the copy of the resolutions arrived at

upon 13 th inst ., when your correspondence of 7 th September , already alluded to , was submitted to the members of our Supreme Council , viz . -. — Resolved—That this Supreme Council , having been lawfully constituted by charter horn the Supreme Grand Council of Egypt ( a genuine Masonic power ) , having acted under the authority of that charter for upwards of

two years , with the full knowledge and expressed approval of the Supreme Council of Egypt ( as stated in their own official hullelin ) , having committed no act derogatory to a Grand Council , and denying ( in common with the Supreme Council of Scotlanel ) the right claimed by the Supreme Council of England to exclusive jurisdiction in New Zealand , will adhere to its charter , will work under it , and

will patiently submit to opposition from and non-recognition by all the Supreme Councils of the Universe , being assured that the time will come when its | just claims to recognition will be universally admitted . Resolved further—That the 111 . G , Sec . be rcejuestcd to convey the foregoing resolution to the Supreme Council

of Egypt , with an expression from this Supreme Council of its surprise and deep regret that , uneler pressure exerted by other Supreme Councils , it should have felt at liberty to adopt a course of action Subversive of its own independence and one alike opposcel to honour and good faith .

I shall be glad to receive the further correspondence from you which yem leael me to expect , and withhold for the present the course of action which in consequence of your letter now under reply it will be necessary for our Council to take .

Regretting the untoward circumstances which have produced tliis letter , and will ! the- expression of the liopc that yeiur Supreme Council will so far consult its dignity and honour as to retrace the step it has taken , 1 have Ihe honour to be , youis fraternally and respectfully , T . S . GRAHAM , S . L . G . H . E .

Royal And Select Masters.

ROYAL AND SELECT MASTERS .

On Friday , the 21 st ult ., a meeting of the Grand Masters' Council was convened at No . 2 , Red Lion-square , for the dispatch of business . Among those in attendance were Comp . the Rev . G . K . Portal , M . P . G . M . ; ( lytic Pullen , 31 ° , R . P . G . C . of WorVs ; F . Davison , R . P . G . Treas . ; ] j . M . Dewar , R . P . G . Recorder ; T . C . Walls , as

T . J . M . ; H . R . Cooper Smith , C . of the G . ; \\ . lkrndge , R . ' H . Thrupp , R . G . Glover , R . L . Loveland . The minutes of the previous convocation having been read anel coutirrred , the following candielatc « , being in attendance , wcrcduly admitted anil received the eicgrees of M . K . M ., R . M ., Select Master , and S . E . M .: —3 ros . Thos . Poorc , the Rev . T . W . Lemon , Robert Roy , C . T . Pearcc ,

H . F . Partridge , and Edwarel Letchworth , the lour ceremonies being performed and the attendant lectures delivered by Comp . Walls . A number of propositions for admission and reception having been handed in , Comp . Walls moved , and Comp . Davison seconded— " That in future an annual subscription of ten shillings be paid by every member of the

Grand Masters' Council , and that a festival be held once a year in connection with the same . " This motion having been briefly discussed , it was carried nem . con . Previously to the convocation being adjourned , Comp . the Rev . G . 11 . Portal , M . i ' . G . M ., appointed Comp . Wills

as T . J . Deputy Master of the G . M . ' s Council . Bro . Walls having duly acknowledged the honour , the Council was closed , and the companions adjourned to an excellent collation at the Albion Hotel , and which was presided over by the M . P . G . M . The next meeting of the Council will be held oil the first Wednesday in April next .

Dr. Mackey On Masonic Rites.

DR . MACKEY ON MASONIC RITES .

It would scarcely be possible to have selected a more appropriate subject on which to write Masonically , than the one adopted by my friend and Bro ., D . G . Mackey ; for " Masonic Files , " as a matter of fact , arc much unelervalued by many , and misunderstood by a still greater Bv WILLIAM JAMES HIOIIAS .

number . Certainly , it long experience of the maimers and customs of several rites would fit a brother for their study and explanation as a guide for others , the learned doctor shoulel he well qualified , and hence wc have not been disappointed generally in reaeling the articles in question . We apprehend their circulation will do good ,

anel certainly they well eleserve all the praise they have received . On one pejint , however , they appear to be deficient or misleading , and the able Masonic archaeologist , the Rev . A . F . A . Woodford , M . A ., quite concurs in so thinking , indeed , has also said so in a thoughtful article in " The Freemason , " ( London ) , of which it is well known

Dr. Mackey On Masonic Rites.

he is the editor , a copy of which is to be founel in . '' Masonic Newspaper , " No . 10 . We refer to No . 11 , " The York Rile , " in " The Masonic Neiespaper " of Oct . igth , 18 7 8 . Dr . Mackey thus states his opinion : " Bro . llitghan denies that , there is any Shell Rile as the York , and says thai nobody now knows what . Ihe York Rile is . Il'ilh all respect J or his sagacity in Masonic

archwo / ogy , I am . compelled to dissent from his opinion . " I accept Dr . Mackey ' s definition of a Masonic Rite , viz . " T / ie way or manner of arranging or conferring the degrees nf Freemasonry , " and I make bolel to say that not a Mason living knows aught of the manner in which the degrees were conferred by the old York Masons , either historically or traditionally . Assertion is always easy , but

the proof sometimes very difficult . In this case , however , both ore easy , as there has not been any information left as to the character of these degrees or ceremonies by the Masons of York , and there is not a MS . of any kind that has been traced in that city which refers in any way to the esoteric portion of the York Craft degrees , which portion , of course , is really what is meant and included in

the term * ' York Rilt . " A Grand Lodge held at Loudon , and never , directly or indirectly , connected with York , or with the " Granei Lodge of alt Englanel , " held in York , did , I know , make a semi-claim to have been descended from the " Prince Edward of York 0 / 026 , " but even if they called their ceremonies the " York Rite " — which is not proved—their eloing so did not make them so ;

neither were they > ork Masons , or members of a " York Rite , " al any lime . This London Grand Loelge of the " Seccders , " or " Ancients , " was constituted A . D . 1753 , and was a secession from the premier Grand Lodge , also held at London , formed A . D . ifiu-J . The frst mentioned never was acknowledged by the Ancient York Masons , but the oleler body was . The Grand Loelge at York started in

1725 , from the lodge which assembled for many years before ( and has left many documents ) , elied out , however , late last century , and has left no descendants . All its lodges warranted in England—nonervcr out of that eoniury —also succumbed , and on the advent of the present century not a vestige remaiueei of the " York Rite ! " True , we have MSS . of great value , but eif the ritualistic portion ,

save the names and oreler of the Craft degrees , we absolutely know nothing , and , therefore , can say nothing . Dr . Mackey says the term 1 oi-A- Rite " is appropriated to thai system which was fabricated in the early purl of the eighteenth century by the Grand Lodge of England . " This is an error . The premier Grand Lodge ( of 1716-7 ) has never had any claim , and never been known in connection

with a " York Rite , " neither has its promoters referred to —Dr . Desaguiliers and Anderson—ever called their Rite the York . Dr . Mackey thinks " English Rile" would be a better term to describe that promulgated hy the Revivalists of 1716-7 . In England wc know of no other . Dr . Mackey declares the Giand Lodge of the " Ancients , " which claimed the York descent , to be an illegal body , and that what they

practised " 110 more resembles the English York Rite , than it eloes the Scottish or Ancient and Accepted Rite . " Our brother also admits that if the early Masons of York did establish a series of degrees anil a method of initiation , they have long since been irrecoverably last , " Also that " it would be , therefore , not only absurd , but even fraudulent , to attempt , as giving to any system of Masonry tho

name of the City eif Yuvk , to convey the impression that it was there invented . " After this it is not needful for me to say more in justification of my declaration , to which Bro . Dr . Mackey has objected , as his own admissions furnish proof that my opinion is the correct one . It was generally believed , years ago , that the lodges in the United States mainly oweel their constitution to the York " Granei Lodge of

England , " but since it has been proved that they were chiefly intlepted to a London " Grand Lodge of England , " known as the " Ancients . " I have understood that the term " Ancient York Masons" ( A . V . M . ) has generally been dropt in the United States , as also the term '' York Rile , " as both suggest a connection with a city wholly unrepresented , directly or indirectly , in Freemasonry in

America . On Ihe . se points 1 should like to direct the readers of " The Masonic Nctr < pa ] ier " to my " Masonic Sketches and Reprints" ( American Edition ) , handsomely reprinted by Bros . Macoy . V Co ., of New York , which contains a " History of Freemasonry at York . " Hake this opportunity of wishing " 77 ie jUnsoirie- JVeir . epaptr" all the success it so well deserves . —From 77 ie Masonic Newspaper , New York .

Bro . De Keyser has been appointed chairman of the National Training School for Music . Among the many articles on demand in the household none eleserve more attention than plate and polishing powder . Many of the powders now in use arc simply ruinous to every article upon which they arc useel . The "Stat" Plate and Universal Polishing Powder Co .

have supplied a great want in the " Star" Plate and Polishing Powder , and the price places it within the reach of all . This powder has been subjected to the most crucial tests , is entirely free from all mercury , acids , or anything that can injure plate , gold , silver , or the finest jewellery . For polishing and cleaning copper , white metals , ivory , marble , or glass it far surpasses any preparation in use . The company receiveel the only prize medal for polishing

powders at the Exhibition , Philadelphia , 1876 , there being fourteen competitors . Their powder is certa ' mlyj ; a great desideratum . MASONIC SONGS . —A selection of Masonic Songs , set to popular airs , written by Bro . E . P . Philpots , M . D ., F . R . G . S ., is now ready , forming a handsome volume , bound in cloth , with gilt edges , 3 s . Sent post-free from the office of this paper on receipt of stamps or post-office order value ? s . jd . — -AOVT .