Masonic Notes And Queries.

Worship ful Society of Free and Accepted Alasons , at a Todge held at the Carpenter ' s Arms , in Silver-street , gulden-square , the 31 st December , 172 S , by the Right VVorship M Edward Oakley , " & c . ; at pages 35 and 36 , " The Prologue spoken by Mr . William Mills , and the Epilogue by Mrs . Thurmond , a Freemason ' s wife , " at at tne

Drury Lane ineatre , a pertormance uespol-cen uy Rfo-ht Honourable Lord Kingston , Grand Master , on Friday , _> 7 th December , 1728 , and the following Monday . There is no date whatever to the engraved portion , which probably was re-issued at various times bound up with other matter , as in the volume before me . It seems , however , that it was issued for the first time before \ T \\ . WILLIAM NOTT .

THE FRENCH HIGH GRADES . Levesque ' s "Apercu Generale et Historique , " & c , Paris , 1 S 21 , is a clear and connected history of the French Hig h Grades , which deserves the attention of all students . According to him the commencement of the High Grade movement was in 1747 , when Charles Edward Stuart n-ranted a chapter to the Knights of the Eagle and

Pelican , at Arras , if indeed he did so . Quod est probahdum . In 1750 , a Scottish Mason is said to have formed , at Alarseilles , a lodge called the Lodge of St . John of Scotland , which afterwards created itself the " Mother Lodge of Alarseilles , " and afterwards the " Alother Scottish Lodge . " In 1764 , the Chapter of Clermont was formed , whence Von Hund seems tohave derived his "Strict Observance of

Templary . " This never seems to have reached England . Between 1754 and 1757 , as Levesque says , several bodies ware formed , under the names of chapters , colleges , tribunals , and in 1757 the Noachites were introduced at Paris by a Mr . St . Gelaire . In 175 S , the Sovereign Princes and Grand Officers of the Grand and Sovereign Lodges of St . John of Jerusalem , founded at Paris the Chapter of

" Des Empereursd'Orientetd'OccIdent , " with twenty-five Grades and Degrees . And then , just as I said , it came to pass that though the "bodies" of the Grand Lodgeof France were distinct , the officers were often the same . In 17 61 , two Symbolic Grand Lodges existed in France , owing to internal dissensions in the " Body , " which reunited about 1764 or 1765 , but owin * to their quarrels the police

forbade their meeting in 1767 . In 1772 , the Grand Orient is formed out of the Grand Lodge , but the : Grand Lodge continued to work , each "hody '' having lodges under it . The French Revolution stopped all Alasonry in 1791 , and it was not until 1 796 that the Grand Orient and Grand Lodge began to . work . At that epoch there were only eighteen

lodges existing in France . In 1795 , the Grand Lodge and Grand Orient were united . So far back as 1772 the Grand Lodge had made a sort of concordat with the High Grades , but owing to various questions much confusion existed . About 17 S 0 the Grand Conseil of the Emperors seems to have fallen into disorder , though in 17 S 5 it was united with another chapter , which

professed to have a charter from the Grand Chapter of Herodem , of Edinburgh , of 1721 . No doubt a fictitious document . In 17 S 6 , the Grand Orient made a fresh concordat with this combined Grand Chapter General of France . In 17 SG , " the Philaletes" issued an address , but they too passed away . In 1 S 01 , the Chapter of Arias became merged in the Grand Orient . VVe must not forget the Scottish Philosophic Alother Lodge , which , founded in Paris , 177 G , under the name

" Social Contract , " seems with various fortune , and concordats , and diffidence , and debata , to have lasted until about 180 S , when the well known Bro . Thory took an active part in it . The present Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite dates from about 1 S 04 , and in it are merged more than one Grand Chapter , Grand Consistory , and Supreme Grand Council .

Lighty . four . Prince Masons , under Marshal Kellcrmin , in 1 S 04 , seem to have given activity to the body which is now in existence in France . There had been former bodies and many differences between the Grand Orient , and Grand Lodge , and the High

Grade Chapters , but , practically , at present , the French Grand Orient has lodges and chapters up to 1 S , while the Supreme Council has lodges and chapters up to 33 ° . There can be no question that the French Supreme Council represents the system of which Stephen Alorin was the propagator from 1761 . MASONIC STUDENT .

_ RITE OF MIZRAIAI . The Rite of Mizraim is so much akin to the Rite of Memphis , that we often considered them the same . I do not think that they are quite the same , though p ractically nearly . Levesque says that the Rite of Mizraim was introduced into Paris in 1 S 14 . " . ' - ' . - •MASONIC STUDENT .

BRO . CARSON ON KNIGHT TEA 1 PLARY . I have much pleasure in supporting Bro . Whitehead ' s request to have B , ro . Carson ' £ " The Holy Trinity : Does hefief in the dogma constitute a part of a Templar's Creed " reprinted in this country , and suggest the ' ' (' Alasonic Magazine" for . that purpose . It would be well also to add

the second article by the same able brother . on the " Knights of Malta . Ritual . ' , ' . Bro . Carson , the distinguished Masonic scholar , is now prepa ' rihg ' a seco ' nd edition of his " Templaria BWiotheca . ' ' . It : is , jo be published by Air . Peter G . 'hompson , bookseller of Cincinnati , Ohio . I wish , hoiv-^ ' er , that our indefatigable brother would complete his Oeneral Masonic Bibliography , and tbe sooner the better . W . J . HUGHAN .

ELIAS ASHA 1 . 0 LE AND ROSICRUCIANI . SA 1 . I . have looked over " Carpenter ' s Sermon before the Society of Astrologers , " and published in 1657 , and neither JJ the Latin Preface to Elias Ashmole , nor in the English '' eface to the Society , does the slighest trace or hint of a Rosicrucian Society occur . I mention this fact because 1

, i ( ° nfess , it has struck me as a very curious circumstance , Per se . " 1 shall be glad and obliged if any fellow student I "' . point out any connection between Elias Ashmole and osicrucianisui , or his allusion to it . Such points have cnlre | y escaped me so far , if they exist . A . 1 \ A . W .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

THE ESOTERIC HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY . A very interesting paper on this recondite subject appeared in the last Freemason , written by my esteemed friend Bro . VV . J . Hughan , and as I agree with him in much that he so lucidly puts forward , and disagree with him in one or two particulars , I think it well , as be himself most would wish , to state clearly to-day our " points " of honest agreement and divergence .

1 . Bro . rike seems to forget , with all due submission to him , that in his anxiety to depreciate the Alasonic historians of the past he is unconsciously overthrowing the foundation on which his whole theory rests . I quiteagreewith him that too much of our past history has been taken up with " meagre " trifles , the veriest trifles , the quarrels of "jurisdictions , " and the absurd contentions of opposing rites and bodies , chapters and councils . Hence the residuum of value is very

small , the kernel is very difficult to find . But whose fault is it that such is the state of things ? And yet , seriously , this is a . i unjust remark in respect of works like those of Fort , Alackey , Steinbrenner , and others , to say nothing of Preston and Kloss , Thory and Levesque . 1 can quite understand why Bro . Albert Pike does not like Findel ; but , removing the " High Grade " treatment , in which respect

Findel is too severe , Findel ' s is a remarkable book . Bro . Hughan well puts the state of the case generally . 2 . I entirely disagree with Bro . Pike as to the fact of the " modernity " of Alasonic legends , and quite concur in Bro . Hughan ' s remarks on the subject , though he might well have pushed the argument further . It is the very antiquity of Masonic legends and traditions which constitutes their " crux , " alike for Masonic students and for non-Alasonic writers .

3 . I d « -not agree with Bro . Hughan as to the question of " Degrees , " about which we do not quite coincide , " exoterically " or esoterically . " Degree , " which comes from " Gradus , " is merel y a " step , " and may , or may not , be accompanied by special hidden teaching . It may be merely a Degree of " convenience , " or " technicality , " or " terminology , " and may be "important " or "unimportant" as to the main question . That previously to 1700 Degrees

existed , as we understand them , according to our modern view , with separate teaching for each , and exactly in the same form of ideas , no one contends , that I am aware of . But what many do say , ( myself included ) , is , that a " triplicate " form of Alasonic system has been kept up , we believe , from earliest times , and which in some way or other is a " distinction " with a "difference , " not a "distinction without a difference , " as my able friend Bro . D . AI .

Lyon and others seem to wish to prove . Sir F . Palgrave , in one of his works , mentions the existence of documents in the "Pipe Rolls of Edward Land III , " representing the threefold form of Alasters , Fellows , and Apprentices , and though I am aware that latterly this distinction is assumed to be merely "technical , " and of no " esoteric meaning , " I would beg to repeat thathere is the very " crux " we have yet to dispose of . Arc these \ vords merely

technical , of no esotcncal import ? or do they convey a further hidden meaning ? All the English Guild legends from 1390 downwards or 1415 , " teste " Mr . Bond , a very great authority , preserve the threefold divisions , and certainly in the Alasonic poem it isassumed that tlie three " classes , " or "Degrees" are different and distinct , whether that distinction anddifference cover " esoterical" explanations also is a matter for argument , and is not , I admit , of certainty . Bro .

Pike , as Bro . Hughan says tersely , is wrong as to our Constitutions proving only the Degrees of Fellow and Apprentice , ( though 1 fancy this is a confusion of terms on the part of Bro . Pike ) , as if the Constitutions prove anything they prove the existence of a triplicate form and name of division . As regards the proof of the last century as to separate Degrees , with separate secrets , that point is still a moot one , and no one in our . present position of Alasonic knowledge

can safely , in my opinion , pronounce a decided or dogmatic opinion on the subject . Bro . Gould trul y says that we are still but " on the threshold of enquiry , " ( what 1 have kept saying for years ) , in fact , we resemble the old story of Sir Isaac Newton and the " pebbles" on the " sea shore . " It will be a pity if we fall now into the same error of hyper-dogmatism and over-haste on soimportant a point ; and I would urge , in the best interests of Alasonic history , moderation and hesitation on this " moot point . " For I will make this

one remark—that a large amount of evidence might be brought even from the Scottish records themselves , from both the Harleian MSS . ' , from the Sloane AIS , and many other authorities , as to the existence of more Degrees than one at any rate , previously to 1700 . 4 . Bro . Hughan so well treats the Scottish origin of the Scottish Guild Legends that I need not recur to it , because it is quite clear , as he says , that so far all such " legends " are English , though Bro . Findel says thc English are " German . ' - ' - ¦

5 . What the " original " English Freemasonry was is , indeed , a difficult subject . As Bro . Hughan well puts it , and as I stated in the Freemason of last week in " Notes and Queries , " there were lodges before 1700 ; but how far our present system is in concord with them , or in what manner they werelinked on to the "Guilds" and "Craft Chapters " is , indeed , all but impossible , I fear , now to ascertain . All the " documents " I have had access to seem to prove "

continuity " and "identity ; " but I admit that of the lodges we hear of which Ashmole attended we know nothing , and can find 110 trace . 6 . The question of "Hermeticism , " to which Bro . Pike alludes , and which is the central point of his argument , and to . which all else is subjected , has for some time appeared to me to deserve more consideration than it has yet received . Bro . Hughan and myself have long laboured , almost iden .

tically , on the same " lines , ' , 'but he , who knows niy views so well , will have seen howmuchfor sometirhe I have laboured quietl y in this direction myself , as I have felt that there is more in it than many like to allow , 1 think Bro . Pike says a great deal too much about the ignorance of the Craft Alason ,- and is not fair to them ; because while I am prepared to admit the actual existence of a'Hermetic Body , I am not at all prepared to concede that Craft Alasonry is the product of Hermeticism . The old sayingis still true— " The

world is wide enough for us all , " and Hermeticism , whether in a Rosicrucian or Alchemical development , may have well existed contemporaneously with Alasonic Guilds . 7 . This , of course , brings us to another question—What was the primal factor of esoteric Alasonry ? and as that is a very wide and deep question indeed , I prefer to leave off here to-day , duping same day to bc able to reconsider a friendly and fraternal study of subjects interesting to all of UJ who value Ficc-mafonry for what it has been , what it if .. - aud-what it vet mav ' ,,, .. MASONIC STL'DEM .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

THE ALLEGED HIGH GRADE REVIVAL OF 16 S 6 . I am sorry to think that "Alasonic Student" should consider that I had any personal allusion in my remark that I could not express myself freely in the pages of the Freemason . His note proves that he is more combative than he gives himself credit for , but I havehad no reason to complain of any want of gentlemanly courtesy from him . I alluded entirel

y to the impossibility of writing clearly and openly upon questions of ritual , and even what little I did consider I might conscientiously say was struck out , and the editor was no doubt right in striking out such matter . To-day I am similarl y placed . It is doubtless well known to " Alasonic Student , " that in the continental system there were certain Hermetic Degrees practised which proposed to

give an explanation of the old Hermetic works both in their Alchemical and Allegorical or religious relations ; it is even claimed that Ramsay's 4 was of such a nature . As a matter of reliable history , I cannot speak to this , but I do say that such rituals interpret the allegorical sense in a way which seems to be satisfactory to outside authorities . Much of this matter is now found in a Masonic svstpm vt . rv

liberally abused . That Ashmole was well acquainted with this double or symbolical writing , seems to admit of no doubt , because the works of his Bro . Backhouse are written in it . Vide Ashmole ' s published diary . In 16 46 he was made a Freemason at Warrington , Lancashire , and two months later he made the acquaintance of Lilly and Booker . He SaVS . "Aol . IO . lfiC 2 . This mr _ rn _ n _ T . m . r

father , Backhouse , opened himself very freely on the great secret . " " April 13 , 1653 . Aly father , Backhouse , being sick in Fleet-street , over against St . Dunstan's Church , and not knowing whether he should live or die , about eleven of the clock told me in syllables the true matter of the Philosopher's Stone , which he bequeathed to me as a legacy . " We find that meetings of the Hermetic Society were held in

London down to 1656 , and then became dormant . In Alarch , 16 S 2 , he records the well-known minute of the Lodge of Freemasons which he attended , and which " Masonic Student" has laboured with some success to elucidate . Then "July 10 th , 1682 . The Astrologers'feast was restored by Mr . Aloxon . " "January 29 , 1863 . The Astrologers ' feast was held at the Three Cranes in Chancery-lane ; Sir

Edward Derring and the Town Clerk of London were Stewards . " Thenceforward we have no historical account of either the Freemasons or the Hermetic Society , and we are told valuable documents were burnt to prevent their falling into the hands of the history makers . In 1721 ( Long Livers ) , we find a union of Freemasons and Hermeticists , and from that time the press accuses the

Freemasons of Hermeticism . Twenty-two years later we learn that Alasonry had a system of Seven Degrees , which lays claim to have originated in this period of vacuum . " 1 maintain that the claim is a likely one , "Alasonic Student " calls it myth ; who can decide ? Probably it will always remain a source of conjecture . Alasonry having become Speculative , its lodges accommodated Knights of St . John

and Rosicrucians , who abandoned their own lower Degrees and constituted a new series upon the basis of Craft Alasonry . The factsseem toprove thatwhen Rosicrucianism died out Masonic Templary ( in which I include the Arch ) took its place , but that system cannot be the Primitive one , for whilst Rosicrucianism explains its existence , Templary does not explain Rosicrucianism . JOHN YARKER .

CERNEAU COUNCIL OF THE A . AND-A . RITE . Haying recently acquired all the facts of thc p . resent American quarrel I can readily show how it arose . When the Cerneau healed and united the Gourgas-R ^ ymond Council or Northern Jurisdiction in 1 SG 3 , it gave rise to ah internal contest as to whether Cerneau should absorb the Gourgas-Raymond or vice-versa . The old Cerneau

members resisted such an adoption , as also a union with the Gourgas-Van Rensellaer , ( a split from Raymond in 18 G 0 , who expelled him ) , unless formally healed . As the Cerneau followed the system of the Grand Orient , and admitted any number of Thirty-third Degree they , were so much in the majority , that all who supported thc system of the Northern Jurisdiction had to retire ( and this included

a limited number of Cerneau 33 ) and join the Gourgas-Van Ransellaer , which thus reverted to its old position , prior to 1 S 60 , as did the Cerneau also , for if legal then it is legal now . Great authorities are often no authority at all , but we in England are only so far interested that the A . and P . Rite have always lived , on friendly terms with the Cerneau Council , and will continue to do so . JOHN YARKER .

'PHE RELIGION OF TEA 1 PLAR AIASONRY . Will you allow me lo point out an extraordinary misprint in my note of last week . Instead of "the Constitutions published by Hyham " read "by Hughan . " T . B . WHYTEHEAD .

Wc arc authorised to contradict the announcement that the Hon . Robert Bourke , M . P , is a candidate for the office of Remembrancer in the City of London . The lion , gentleman has no intention whatever of giving up his place in Parliament . Bro . U : Knell , was , on Tuesday weelc last , the occasion of the annual ball of the Cripplegatc Ward Pension Society , of which admirable institution Bro . Knell is

the . Honorary Secretary , presented with a handsome emblazoned tablet and a purse of 100 guineas , as a mark of respect and esteem , and in recognition of his ten years ' services on behalf of the society . . Bro . Alderman Knight , in presenting the testimonial , made graceful" allusion to Bro . Knell's success in other offices , principally . as Churchwarden of Cripplegatc Among the company present were Bros . J . Corke , G . M . Felton , J . R . Foulger , and Med win .

Again Bro . George Kenning , of 198 , Fleetstreet , London , sends us across the Atlantic his valuable Calendar , containing lists of all the Alasonic bodies in the world , except the United Sta . tes ( where it gives the Grand Bodies ) , with their officers at a late date . This sells for

2 s . id . post-paid , and is the only book in the world which gives the address of any officer the Alason may wish to address . VVe thank him for it , and hasten to transfer it to our Masonic library , where the brethren may consult it . It can now so easily be obtained by sending a postal order by mail , that we doubt not many will be ordered by our readers . Mttjonic To / ten .