Red Cross Of Rome & Constantine.

for the kind words used in the proposition of the toast , and for the hearty manner in which it had been _ received . They must excuse a little timidity from him , as it was the first chair in Masonry he had filled . Pie was proud to be in the chair of this conclave , but he did not owe that to his merits as much as to the kindness of the sir knights . In three years he had been installed , and trusted those

who followed him would reach the position as quickly as he had done . He would try to the best of his ability to perform the duties of his office , and trusted that during his year they would have a large influx of candidates . He had heard two or three whispers to that effect which were agreeable . He hoped they would have plenty of work , and was sure they would have plenty of goodwill on all

sides . Sir Knight J . G . Marsh , P . S ., responded for the toast of "TheP . S . 's , " and said he was installed in this conclave 25 years ago , and had remained in it ever since . He passed through certain offices , and did not arrive at the piincipal chair for some years , giving way to others . He should ever have a lively recollection of the history of this

conclave . It was floated at the time when it was thought necessary to resuscitate the Order , and he was one of those , with the late Sir Knight Little , who took an interest in the woik . This conclave was opend at Dick ' s Coffee House , in Fleet-street , and after about 12 months they had increased considerably , seating 40 to 50 at dinner . The members were then pouring in from all quarters , and they

got so numerous that the heads of the Order decided to form a Premier Conclave , and he was selected to fill the post of P . S . In conclusion , he thanked them for the kind manner in which the toast had been given . "The Visitors" was next given , and having been replied to , the M . P . S . proposed "TheViceroy . " Sir Knight Spice , V ., responded , and said he was afraid

he possessed neither of two qualities , being neither ornamental nor useful . In the short time that lay before him , when the responsibilities of the higher office came to him , he was afraid he should be found wanting , but let what Would happen , he would try , as he had tried in past years , to maintain the high repute which the Plantagenet Conclave had evidenced in its past history . So far as good

intentions went , they should not be wanting on his part to merit their approbation , even if he failed to obtain it . He would shape his course so as to do what he could to deserve the kind feeling and kind regards of the sir knights . "The Recorder and Treasurer" was given by the M . P . S ., who said the conclave was honoured by having as its Recorder the Grand Recorder of the Order , and in Sir

Knight Venn , the Treasurer , they had an old friend who would efficiently perform his duties . Sir Knight Venn , Treas ,, in responding , said the prospects of the conclave were better than for several years . They had had some excellent additions , intellectually and musically , and no doubt many more would follow , and so place the conclave in a very flourishing state . He would do

the best he could , and hoped he should succeed in administering to their comforts . Sir Knight C . F . Hogard , Recorder , said he had for some years occupied his present position , and during that time he thought he might say he had looked after the interests of the conclave . So long as he was re-appointed , and had health and strength , he would discharge the duties in

the same manner , and to the best of his ability . In that conclave they had all worked hard for many years , and now it was making strides in the knowledge and in the hopes of Freemasons . The Order was , of course , restricted very materially to a Christian Order . It had a very fine ritual , and the more that was known , the more the members

liked it . He hoped that this conclave and the Order generally would progress , and that it would , as in the past , hold its own with those Orders connected with Christian Masonry . "The Officers" was replied to by Sir Knight Tyrrell , and the Sentinel ' s toast closed a pleasant and agreeable evening .

Rosicrucian Society Of England.

Eostcrucian Society of Encrlanlr

METROPOLITAN COLLEGE . —The annual obligatory convocation of the college was held at the Masonic Hall , I 6 A , Great Queen-street , W . C , on Thursday , the 1 ith inst . The fratres present were Dr . W . R . Woodman , 9 ° , S . M . and P . M . G . j T . C . Walls , 8 ° , M . T . j R . Roy , Hon . 8 ° , P . M . T ., as D . M . T . j Dr . W . Wynn Westcott , M . B . Hon ., Q ° , Sec . ; W . I . Ferguson .

8 , P . M . I . ; J . Lewis Thomas , 9 ° , P . M . T ., S . S . M ., and ireas . Gen . ; E . H . Thiellay , 8 ° , P . M . T . ; H . J . Lardner , G . Graveley , N . Goodchild , and T . H . Tilton , as Ancts . j j * . L . MacGregar Mathers , 8 ° , as C . N . j W . G . Lemon , H . Higgins , Nelson Prower , M . A ., B . A . Smith , T . N .

' rye , U . Gregory , H . P . Hay , and J . Gilbert , Acolyte . Bros . Belgrave Ninnis , M . D ., and S . G . Milner were unanimousl y elected candidates , and being in attendance 1 W T lm £ ressively advanced to the grade of Zelator by the ' , J " lecture on the numbers and Mystic Knowledge was delivered by Frater R . Roy with his usual eloquence . vote

A of thanks was accorded to Fra . Frye for a gift of candles to the college . The report of the Audit Committee sl t A ft ™ 6 ? and ado P > '' nem- con- " The Secretary « . £ L c " e had received apologies for absence , and good p » , - several brethren , un , ; , ; •Fr , a ?*• W W ? nn Westcott , Hon . 9 , was then unanimousl y elected Master of the Temole for the ensuinor

w 7 « ' 1 , S , M- re-elected Treasurer . Fra . Gilbert was also re-elected Acolyte . Votes of thanks were then accorded to Fras . Roy and dnrin ! ff ° - Mathers for their assistance in the ceremonies , . ing tne Past Vear . to wWll f-hpv Virjpflv racnnriJaA All

nelow the rank of s ° having . withdrawnj the S # M Fra > Dr < Winn , V r L dman . installed the new M . T ., Fra . Dr . W . ihenlo ^ ? ! ' " - chair ° - - The fra ^ s were the in ^! u r tted * . nd Fra ' MacGregor Mathers proclaimed the S M 7 r , J ewel of honour was then presented by in-X ; ' ° - Walls , who returned thanks for the same ...- „ " ? " sPeech , pomtinir nut that the Rniirriir-ian nrA * r De

_ appointed */* f ^ ^ - The new M - - then Lardner DM T ^ r ? th J , fo , lowin S ° fficers : Fras - H- JL . Macr ™ 'Ti V Dr * W R Woodman , 9 ° , Treas .,- S . 2 ndA !' T w r « r - 8 > S ^ " ist A . ' . Cockle , W . G Lem ^ n " i ff " # Webster Glynes , th A . ThomE ' JP t- ' ' r ^ V 1- " W - Lemon , 6 th A . j J COT / T V N E ; -Street , P . ; Jones-Pkrry , G . T . •T N v ' E > 5 NeIson Prower - H -J H . H . Shirley > J- N . Frye , M . j and J . Gilbert , Acolyte . V '

Rosicrucian Society Of England.

The M . T . then read the following speech on his accession : M . W . Supreme Magus and fratres , in returning to you my sincere thanks for my election as M . T . of the Metropolitan College , the oldest and most important of all the Rosicrucian Colleges under the control of the High Council , permit me to congratulate the college on it ; continued prosperity , both as to numbers and to learning j a

result very largely dependent on the efforts ot the fratres who have of late years filled the chair . The genial manners of R . W . Frater Thiellay , the facile and accurate ritual work of R . W . Frater Roy , and the very great number of excellent zelators introduced by the M . T . who has just now retired , have carried on the college to a high standard of efficiency . I can only hope that my year of office may pass

without any deterioration , and that we may each gain some new ideas , and greater knowledge of Rosicrucian subjects . The Rosiciucian Society of England , as revived by the ( ate M . W . Fra . R . Wentworth Little , was designed to commemorate the ancient German Society which arose in the 15 th century , and to carry on researches into the hidden mysteries of nature and science j the Kabbalah , and the

properties of numbers ; its Masonic character was a new principle , engrafted on the design of older societies of the same name . This should not be forgotten in proposing new members , and in carrying on our work ; there is an ample supply of thc so-called High Grades for such as desire only an ornamental membership j on the other hand , we recognise that fratres reading essays before us should

equally avoid too abstruse and ultra-mystic a tone . I must myself apologise for having largely asked your attention to my essays , but I believe I have avoided the irksomeness o . f too dull subjects j if 1 have not , I doubly apologise j and I beg some of you to come forward this very year , and offer essays on Rosicrucian subjects , which so many of you are eminently fitted to

write and deliver . Several fratres have not yet supplied me with their mottoes , if any are present will they please notify them to-day ? The annual report has been posted to all fratres , and I hope it has been found satisfactory . The Supreme Magus has contributed a short but very learned paragraph , and he has most kindly revised the proofs and agreed to the selection of the paragraphs from

the minute book . Some parts of the minutes here and there have always been omitted , because of too private a nature for publication . If you , my fratres , will kindly offer any suggestions as to the annual report for next year , I feel sure the newly-appointed Secretary of the college will attend to them . R . W . Frater J . Lewis Thomas pointed out to the

Secretary that his grade was given wSmgly on page 6 of the annual report . R . W . Frater Dr . W . Wynn Westcott , IX ° , Honoris Causa , then delivered the following lecture : M . W . Supreme Magus and Fratres , —The subject I am now asking you to consider is the Basilisk and Cockatrice , which is now generally considered a mythj and , no doubt ,

it is a mythical being , but is it , or rather was it , an allegory as well , and is it not one of those pictorial representations of Alchemic truths whose explanation has become lost to a world devoted to money making and utilitarianism ? The most concise and complete account of these animals is given by the eminent author Sir Thomas Browne , M . D ., famous for his Religio Medici , Hydriotaphia , and Garden

of Cyrusj he was very well read in the works of the medievalists , but he was not an occultist properly so-called , and did not comprehend the symbolism of the Higher nor of the Practical Alchemy . I propose to show you some rough drawings of ancient and medieval pictures of the Basilisk which I have discovered in old MSS . And here I may point out that our subject is involved in the wider question

of whether or no there is a real basis for the so-called mythical animals , in a previous , vastly removed , real existence . The orthodox belief in 4000 years B . C . marking the origin of this Terra , is now so generally given up that there can be no apology needed from me in suggesting that no locus standi exists unless we go back as far as the Cis-Himalayan adepts endeavour to explain to us , millions

of years that is , for Round after Round , Root Race after Root Race . Such a prehistoric expanse of time spent in gradual , but partly disconnected periods of evolution , leaves ample opportunity for the creation and subsequent disappearance of many forms of animal life which must appear to us nineteenth century men incongruous and unnaturakbut the fossils already discovered disclosesuch forms

of long forgotten beings , forms gigantic , unnatural , andgrotesque , anima ! s so peculiar as to make usall confess that had we not seen their bones and re-constituted forms now lying in the Crystal Palace grounds , we should not have credited their existence , however remote we may assign as their era . By analogy , I argue that other forms peculiar to our eyes have been handed down to us by tradition , now called

invention , because the origin of the tradition is now so remote that no trace of proof can exist . There seems to be a growing belief that in previous eras man as well as animals were more and more gigantic , more and more different from the types now existing , and I may add less and less materialised , more or more without what we now understand as matter ; this suggestion will explain the

disappearance as fossils of these preliminary inhabitants of earth . But to our subject . The name Basilisk is from the Greek word meaning a king , and is derived from the tradition of its supremacy among animals , a lord and king of serpents , due to its magical powers , and to the disc , white markings , crest , or crown , said to have been visible on its' head . The name Cockatrice is more modern , and

was conferred in the middle ages on account of the tradition that the animal sprang from the hatching of a Cock ' s egg by a Serpent or Toad . It was also called Regulus , from Regium and Rex , analogous to the name Basilisk . The most ancient view , apparently , was that the Basilisk was a form of serpent or snake , venomous , something like the Cobra di Capello of modern times . The medievalists

seem to have developed the Basilisk into a more incongruous conception , making of it a reptile with legs , a crest , and a serpentine tail , but also winged . Pliny mentions the animal as if it were a natural one ( see his Hist . Nat ., VIII ., c . 21 and 33 , and XXIV ., c 4 ) . He describes it as a native of the Cyrenaic province , 12 fingers long , marked with a series of white spots on the head ,

resembling a crown , walking with the head erect , and killing animals and shrubs by its glance , scorching the herbs , and able to split rocks . Lucan adds that if a man riding kill one by a spear thrust , its venom may kill both horse and rider . Aelian tells us that the Basilisk feared and fled from a Cock , and that the only animal who could master it was the Weazel , which , stimulating itself by eating Rue ,

Rosicrucian Society Of England.

was able attack and kill it ; in a similar manner we are now told that the only animal able to kill certain venomous snakes in India is the Mongoose . In Lyly ' s work , "Alexander and Campaspe , " Act III ., scene 5 , we find a reference to the tradition that a Basilisk can perforate steel by pecking at it . We are also told that a dead Basilisk has the valuable property of keeping away spiders

from any place where it may be hung up . Its blood is said to have been a most valuable protection against sorcery . Aristotle does not mention it ; but I find references in Pliny , as aforesaid , and in Lucan , Dioscorides , Galen , Solinus , / Elian , ^" tius , Avicenna , Pierius , Sigonius , Grevinus , and Cardan . Scaliger classes them among snakes in his Commentaries , and , in his Exercitationes ,

speaks of one destroyed at Rome by Pope Leo IV . The Bible mentions the word Cockatrice three times , but apparently as a synomym of " adder , " or " venomous reptile . " Isaiah , xi ., S . —Tsiphoni ; Isaiah , Jix ., 5—Tsiphoni ; Jeremiah , viii ., 17—Tsiphoni ; and in Proverbs , xxiii ., 32 , as " adder , " or "Basilisk , " in the margin with the same Hebrew word . For some reason unknown to me , in the

Revised Version the word " Basilisk " is substituted on each occasion ; the Vulgate always rendered it Regulus , and the old Douay version , used by the Roman Catholic Church , always uses the word " Basilisk . " The Hebrew name Tsiphoni is very nearly the same as the Hebrew form of

the Egyptian name Typhon , the evil deity opponent to Osiris . The Asp , or Urceus , was a notable Egyptian symbol of power , and is seen in the head-dresses of deities . —See notably the " lsiac Tablet , " published by myself .- — Mantuanus wrote"Natus in ardenti Lydi'E Basiliscus arena

Vulnerat aspectu , luminibusque nocet . " " Born in the burning sand of Lydia , wounds With a glance , and injures by its rays . " This is the most general of the mystic powers allotted to the Basilisk , it killed at a distance by its glance ; this takes us back to the doctrines of Plato , Empedocles , Galen , and Proclus , that sight was an emission from an

eye , the converse of our knowledge that sight is the reception of rays by an eye perceiving them . With regard to the conceit of a Cock's egg hatched by a serpent becoming a Cockatrice , this idea also originated in a misconception ; we all know now-a-days that the warmth needed to hatch an egg may be supplied in any way suitable to the required temperature and period of continuance , and has no effect

in the egg contents beyond assisting development . There are ] several parallel myths of peculiar conceptions , but they were not written for the physical plane ; but are allegories . In a guide to the Colleges of Oxford , 1 7 , we are told that in 1679 an Italian doctor Govaro offered a Basilisk to the Museum for £ 100 , but Dr . Radclyffe refused to buy ; it is said to have had horns ,

eagle s feet , and a dragon s tail—see also MacFarlane , " Popular Customs in Italy , " p . 102-5 . ^ ut as Rosicrucians we are especially concerned with the fact that the Basilisk or Cockatrice became merged with the dragon in the mystic symbology of the alchemists , whose works teem with references to the red and green dragons , types of chemical processes and substances .

The examples I now show you are taken from a beautiful old MS . marked Collectanea de Lapide Philosophorum ; they are called Dragon and Basilisk promiscuously , and are variously coloured to represent different stages of the work . As a hieroglyph the Basilisk came into considerable use also as an heraldic emblem , and we find it variously altered on special occasions j as , for example ,

the crowned dragon s head is found replaced by that of a man and of a hawk . The heralds no doubt borrowed from the paintings of the alchemists , who frequently drew in images what they would not print in words . Rees states that among the English alchemists the Basilisk meant the Sublimated Mercury of the Philosophers , and so was connected with the Phcenix , son of the Sun , and the

Quintessence . The-Treasurer General observed that the Cockatrice frequently occurred in heraldic supporters and crests . The Supreme Magus rose , and , in a concise and eloquent speech , proposed a vote of thanks to the M . T . for his interesting paper . It was seconded by the Treasurer-General , pu 'by the

D . M . T ., and carried unanimously . Frater Nelson Prower asked whether the Dragon and Gryphon were the same , and why one had wings , and the other not . A desultory discussion ensued . Frater Walls spoke of the magnetic glance of the Cobra , but stated that he did not believe in the Gryphon or Dragon

having ever existed , even in a pre-historic age . He then referred to the Dragon of Wantley and other legends . The Supreme Magus promised a paper at a future date . The Secretary added some further remarks on the Dragon and Serpent symbolism . The meeting was then closed , and the fratres adjourned

to a banquet at the Holborn Restaurant , where the discussion on mystic and occult subjects was continued . Brethren desirous of joining the Rosicrucian Society of England should communicate by letter with the Secretary of the Metropolitan College—R . W . Frater S . L . MacGregor Mathers , 8 ° , Grand Secretary's Office , 39 6 , Camden-road , N .

Order Of The Secret Monitor.

Order of the Secret Monitor .

ALFRED MEADOWS CONCLAVE ( No . 1 ) . —A meeting of this conclave was held on Tuesday , thc 2 nd instant , at the Holborn Restaurant , when there were present Bros . Col . Jas . Perry Godfrey , S . R .,- J . M . Collins , C . j Webster Glynes , G . j W . G . Lemon , Treas . j Chas . Gross , M . D ., Sec . j J . M . Bastone , Stwd . j Rev .

A . W . Oxford and Fred . West , V . D . 's . j G . Rowe , Sentinel ; Dr . W . Stewart Brown , Guarder ; Dr . I . Zacharie , G . S . R ., P . S . R .,- Capt . N . G . Philips , P . G . S . R ., P . S . R . j Jas . Lewis Thomas , D . R . O ., P . S . R . j T . II . Tilton , P . G . C j Nelson Prower , W . J . Spratling , S . R .,-and A . Gamman . The report of the Audit Committee was presented and

adopted . It showed the conclave to be in a flourishing condition . The ceremony of the installation and consecrating of the S . R . elect , Bro . Col . J . Perry Godfrey , P . G . B . B ., was performed by Bro . Spratling , S . R ., after which the officers were invested as above enumerated . It was decided to hold the summer outing up the river in the second week in July . Brethren may introduce members of their family as before .