To Correspondents.

To Correspondents .

J . W . —We will enquire . BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . "The Sunday Times , " "Broad Arrow , " "Masonic token , " " Der Long Islaender , " " New York Dispatch , " "The Citizen , " " Die Baiihutte , " "Keystone , " "The

Hull Packet , " "The Jewish Chronicle , " "Orient"Bulletin du Grand Orient de . France , " " Bollettino Ufficiale del Supremo Conseglio del 33 per La Tunisia , " "The Northern Advance , " "Allen ' s Indian Mail , " "Boletin Oficial del Grand Orient de Espana , " "The Mystic Tie . "

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THE'FREEMASON . SATURDAY , AUGUST 13 , 1 SS 1 .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ Wc do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of , the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but . we wish in a spirit ejf fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion , ]

PRECEDENCE OF PROVINCIAL GRAND OFFICERS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — During the course of my Masonic career , which has now extended over twenty-eight years , during which

period I have been continuously in ofiice , it has often surprised me to observe how lengthened disputations and even acrimonious disputes grow out of mere quibbles . With regard to this prolonged correspondence as to the status of Grand Officers with reference to Prov . Grand Officers , let any brother read , without bias , the paragraph

relating to Prov . Grand Officers in the Book of Constitutions , page 51 , section 2 , and he will find the question is there determined . In line five from the top of the page it says "but they are not by such appointment members of the Grand Lodge . " If they are not members of Grand Lodge how can they take precedence of Grand Officers ?

Bro . the Rev . C . W . Arnold , P . G . Chaplain and Deputy Prov . Grand Master for Surrey , is quite right . Provincial Officers are Grand Officers in their own province , but they are not Grand Officers of England , and therefore in the presence of Grand Officers should willingly yield their

precedence . A lit ) le common sense , but above all true Masonic feeling , would soon end this and similar discussions . Is it too much to ask of Freemasons to remember that the " sweet small courtesies of life make pleasant the path of it ?" Yours faithfully and fraternally , ANOTHER DEP . PROV . GRAND MASTER .

MASONIC HISTORY AND HISTORIANS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — In your July iGth number , referring to my communication of July 2 nd , Bro . "Masonic Student" takes me to task for having done something very naughty . " I think

( says 'Masonic Student' ) that our esteemed Bro . Jacob Norton in his impeachment of Bro . Dr . Anderson has found what is commonly called a ' mare ' s nest , ' " & c . Now , I have more than once impeached Anderson ' s history , but in my article of July 2 nd I have not only not impeached Dr . Anderson , but , on the contrary , I have

vindicated Bro . Anderson s character from the imputations of Masonic landmark sticklers , and have demonstrated that he ( Bro . Anderson ) was much more rational than they thought he was , and more rational than they themselves were—and that's all . I have certainly proved that Bro . Anderson did not care

for sticking to laws ; he did not believe in the nonsense that " once a law , is always a law ; " he had no scruple in modifying and changing a majority of the laws passed in 1723 ; and I have no doubt whatever that his Constitution of 1723 no more resembled Bro . Payne ' s Constitution of 1721 than Payne's Constitution resembled the Constitution

in Halhwell s Poem , or than the Constitution of 173 S resembled that of 1723 . That the 1721 and 1723 Constitutions differed may be proved from the fact that the latter , while it empowered the Grand Lodge to confer the Second and Third Degrees , withheld from it the right of making Masons , while that of 1721 allowed the Grand Lodge to

make Masons ; thus , June 24 th , 1 7 21 , the Grand Lodge " made some new brothers , particularly Lord Stanhope , now Earl of Chesterfield . " Now , if the two Constitutions differed in one thing , why could the } ' not have differed in others ? As far as I can guess from the meagre account furnished

by Anderson , I think that , whereas the four old lodges were ruled by what is called " Gothic Constitutions , " the Lodge of Antiquity is still in possession of its old MS ., hence the two or three lodges that iverc organised before Payne ' s Constitution was adopted must also have furnished

themselves with similar documents ; and 1 must here add that 1 strongly suspect that the MS . most recently discovered , called the "Inigo Jones' MS ., " though dated 1 G 07 , was probably got up for one of the new lodges between 1717 and 1721 . Well , then , from those MS . Constitutions , Bro . Payne compiled his Constitution of 1721 , and , as far ai , we

Original Correspondence.

know , it may have contained the old charge , " To be true to the Church , and to entertain no heresy . " He doubt less added new regulations ; such as the titles of the officers of the Grand Lodge , how they were to be chosen , the necessity of lodges holding charters from the Grand Lodge , & c . All this wc may conjecture ; but how

those laws were worded , and what they were , it is impossible to know . One thing- is certain , viz . that Bro . Payne's Constitution must have been considered unfit and useless for the government of the new organisation , and Bro . Payne himself must have been satisfied that the Constitution was not what it ought to have been ; hence , within a few weeks

after the Grand Lodge adopted the said Constitution , Anderson was invited to re-write it , and just six months after June 24 , 1721 , or more properly on the following Evangelist ' s day , Bro . Anderson presented his new MS . Constitutions to the Grand Lodge , when a Committee was appointed to examine it , & c , and Bro . Payne does not seem even to have

been offended that his Constitution was so short lived . But that is not all . On a page at the end uf Anderson ' s Constitution of 1723 , headed "Approbation , " Bro . Anderson referring to the author , meaning himself , says : "He has examined several copies from Italy , and Scotland , and sundry parts of England , and from thence

( though in many things erroneous ) and from several other ancient records of Masons , he has drawn forth the above written new Constitution . " Now mind , "New Constitution" as above , was printed in capital letters by Anderson himself . If that had not been true , why did not Payne attack Anderson in the Grand

Lodge or elsewhere for his assumption ? That Payne found no fault with Anderson shows that the new Constitution of 1723 was new —to all intents and purposes . Why then did " Bro . Masonic Student" feel annoyed at my previous conclusion , that what with Anderson's fondness for altering

and explicating , he probably retained vcry little of Payne ' s Constitution in his own of 1723 . Respectfully and fraternally yours , JACOB NORTON . Boston , U . S ., July 30 th , 1 SS 1 .

THE FIRST AND MOST EMINENT MASON OF THE WORLD . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I read in your issue of the 23 rd ultimo , an expostulation that a brother , " Friendly Protest , " makes to my

assertion as to Bro . Pike s being the first and most eminent Mason in the world . Such is and will be my opinion till the reverse be well proved and settled . My brother " Friendly Protest , " in opposing my affirmation and denying such a qualification to Bro . Pike , must have some other brother in view who is worthier of this distinction ; if so , he has

only to name him , to prove all his rights to a preference , and I of course shall gladly bow my humblest assent and plead guilty . But , till then , no " Friendly Protest " whatsoever shall have the privilege to impose on others his own way of thinking and judging persons . I am also happy to tell him I am neither an American

nor a Britisher , but merely a Cosmopolitan Mason , who is a friend to all nationalities and a steady admirer of great men , wherever and whenever they may be found . Fraternally yours , A . 33 ° . Cairo , August 1 st , 1 SS 1 .

BRADLAUGH UNDER A WRONG DENOMINATION . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I have to acknowledge the courtesy of your correspondent " South London " in exonerating the Surrey

Masons from complicity with an individual on whose merits we are both agreed . But I submit that the lessee of the room in letting it to Bradlaugh should not have allowed the word Masonic to be used , as outsiders , and even brethren not connected with the Southern lodges , might thereby have been led to believe that the junior , M . P . for

Northampton was acting under the prestige and patronage of the Craft . Indeed , such is the impression left on the mind of a distinguished Provincial G . M ., who , writing to me , says : " The use of the Surrey Masonic Hall for a Bradlaugh meeting is most improper , and I think Grand Lodge ought to take serious notice of the matter . " Surely , " Surrey Hall , Camberwell New-road , " would

have been sufficiently indicative of the locality appointed for the meeting , and would have averted an unpleasant misapprehension . I quite concur with "South London " as to the propriety of the erection of a smaller s-tructure devoted exclusively to Masonic gatherings ; and , moreover , think Kennington or Brixton would be preferable to and more central than the present locality . I am , yours fraternally , HERCULES .

ELIAS ASHMOLE . Dear Bra . Kenning , — 1 alluded to Ashmole ' s initiation at Warrington in a communication I pent to the Freemason last week' , and to the general impression that all those named , except Ashmole himself and Col . Mainwaring , were members of the Operative Craft . I have received since I wrote , from a friend of mine , a most promising and intelligent Masonic

Original Correspondence.

student , the following remarks , the importance of which , as regards our Masonic history , both Bros . W . J . Hughan and Gould will see at once : " The names given in Ashmole ' s diary arc all local . The Penkeths , of Penketh , and the Sankeys are well-known ancient gentle families , now long extinct or reduced to poverty . The Ellams are an old yeoman family , resident

in the adjoining parish of Warwick for centuries . " If five of the band were " speculative" what a question is opened as to the existence of " Freemasonry , " as Plot suggests , in the 17 th century . I leave this passage to the appreciation of Bros . Hughan and Gould , of my Masonic student confreres generally , and am , yours fraternally , MASONIC STUDENT .

Reviews.

Reviews .

THE MAGAZINES . " All the Year Round , " for July , with its ordinary and Summer Number combined , is , indeed , a good fifteenpennyworth . We can cordially recommend it to all our friends , whether wandering in holiday zest over Cumberland

hills , or sauntering by theseaside , as an excellent companion , not only to read and enjoy , but to read out to an enthusiastic circle . All the stories arc good , some specially so . We particularly like " Aunt Agatha ' s Conversion , " " A Barrow of Primroses , " "An Out of the Way Story , " and " Camelot . "

" Temple Bar " is vcry readable and pleasantly gossipy . We like " Personal Reminiscences of the Crimean War " and the " Carlisle Controversy " much ; the latter is a most sensible article . We have laughed heartily at the "Major's Monkey , " and read with interest " 'The Freres . " " The Awakening " is a little " unreal , " though well written . But wh y will writers always " pose ? " The author of this "historiette" is clearly capable of better things .

" Scnbner ' s Monthly Illustrated Magazine , though , as usual , admirably edited and illustrated , strikes us , perhaps unfairly , as being beneath its normal level of excellence . "At the Sea in Normandy" is charming alike to study and realize , and makes one wish to be loitering amid " Normandy Pippins , " or watching the bathers at " Etrctat . "

"A Little World " is also very good reading , and so is the " Isle of Peace . " The claims of " Fulton " deserve attentive consideration . He clearly never has had justice done to him . " Scribner , " which , by the way , is soon to change its name , undoubtedly stands Ai among magazines , and gives each month matter for serious thought , as well as gratified perusal .

" The Antiquary " pursues the even tenour of its waya most useful monthly serial for animated and energetic " Dryasdusts . " We , however , grumble a good deal at the late Wm . Henty ' s unnecessary paper , to prove that Shakespeare did not " poach " the " deer , " and above ail , his defence of him if he did . It seems to us that Shakespeare in

his complex character is rather more interesting than otherwise by his early " escapades , " and that at this time of day to think it necessary to whitewash " our William" of an offence in the hot days of his youth , is carrying puritanic scruples to an absurd extent . Who thinks worse ot him for his encounter with the "three Luces ?"

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic notes and Queries .

THE ROSICRUCIANS . Izaak Walton , as I once before observed in these columns , talks of the " Rosicrucians" as an existing body in 1653 , and in Jesse's edition of the good old angler of 1 S 61 I find a foot-note to this effect : " The title of the Rosycrucians , or the Brothers of the Rosy Cross , was first assumed by a sect of Hermetic philosophers in Germany about the

commencement of the fourteenth century . They professed to have a knowledge of all the occult sciences—as the working of gold , the prolongation of human life , the restoration of youth—from which they were also called Immortalesand the formation of the Philosopher ' s Stone ; but all these secrets they were bound by a solemn oath to reveal only to the members of their own fraternity , and it is to

this custom in particular that Walton alludes . " Their founder was a German gentleman , named Christian Crux , who had travelled to Palestine , where , falling sick , he was cured by Arab physicians , who , he asserted , revealed to him their mysterious arts . He died in 14 S 4 , and the name of the Society was composed of the words " Ros , " dew , and his own name "Crux , or Cross , " the old chemical character for light . "Tcnnemann ' s

Manual of the History of Philosophy , " Bohn , 1 S 54 , is credited with this statement , which I have not seen , though some of my readers may have done so . Tennemann is in error on two points . ( 1 ) The earliest traces of the older-Rosicrucians do not antedate the beginning of 15 th century , not 14 th . ( 2 ) Christian Crux , Crux , a Cross , if not represented by Christian Rosenkreutz , is believed by some to be a pseudonym of Cornelius Agrippa . MASONIC STUDENT .

1 MASSONE . In Coates's "New Dictionary of Heraldry , " London , printed for Aaron Ward , at the King ' s Arms , in Little Britain , 1747 , the word "Massone , " or " Massoned , " is represented to be an heraldic term , and to mean " when an

ordinary is represented in the nature of a stone wall , with all the joints between the stones appearing , as they generally do in stone buildings , as the word implies , being as much as done in Afaeons' work . " My query is—Where is the earliest heraldic use of this word , which clearly comes from the Norman French Maconner or Maconer ? MASONIC STUDENT .

FREEMASONRY IN JAMAICA . Referring to Bro . Burger ' s interesting sketch of " Freemasonry of Jamaica , " I hope to be able in your next to produce one or two facts directly bearing on the subject in the year 1775 . W . V . LAMONBY .