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NOTICE . The " Cosmopolitan Masonic Diary and Pocket Book" for 18 S 2 is preparing for publication on the ist of November . To ensure accuracy a form for filling up has been sent to every lodge , and those Secretaries who have not yet made their returns will greatly oblige the Publisher b y doing so at their earliest possible convenience . The Freemason Office , 16 , Great Queen-street ( opposite Freemasons' Hall ) .

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TO CORRESPONDENTS . The largely ihcreased circulation of tire Freemason necessitates our going to press at an earlier hour on Thursday . It is , therefore , requested that all communications intended to appear in the current number may be sent to our offices not later than 5 p . m . on Wednesdays . Advertisements and short notices of importance received up to 12 o ' clock noon on Thursdays .

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BOOKS , & c , RECEIVED . " The Citizen , " " Der Long Islaender , " " The Nautical Gazette , " "Islington Gazette , " "Public Ledger" ( Philadelphia ) , " Die Bauhautte , " " Freimaurer-Zeitung , " "The Jewish Chronicle , " " La Tolerance , " "Tbe West London Advertiser , " "The Hull Packet , " "Caygill ' s Tourist's Chronicle , " "Broad Arrow , " "New York Dispatch , " " Masonic Advocate , " " The Freemason " ( Toronto ) , "Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Quebec , " " Proceedings of the Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania , " " Allen ' s Indian Mail , " " Montreal Daily Star , " " Montreal Herald . "

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THE FREEMASON . SATURDAY , OCTOBER 22 , 1881 .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

fVVe elo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even approving of , thc opinions expressed by our correspondents , hut we wish in a spirit of fair play to all to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . ]

THE STATUS OF THE SENIOR GRAND WARDEN . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — A question has been asked me several times of late by some of my younger brethren , which I have

experienced great difficulty in answering , and I should be glad of an opnion from yourself , or from some of your eminent correspondents on the point . This is : What is the status of the present Senior Grand Warden of England ? This worthy and amiable young nobleman , against whom personally I am sure no brother can have anything to say ,

has been installed in his high office without ever having been installed W . M . of a regular lodge . In number IV . of the Ancient Charges we find : " No brother can be a Warden until nor Grand Warden until he has been Master of a lodge . " Why has this excellent rule been disregarded j and why has a

brother , necessarily of but slight Masonic attainments , been placed in so responsible and dignified an office , against the spirit , if not actually against the law , of the Craft ? Surely it is not in consequence of his high social position . A second question has been asked me , which I crave your assistance in answering . It is reported that the brother in

question will be elected W . M . of his mother lodge for the year ensuing , and I have been asked whether this would be a legal proceeding ? Under the title " Of Grand Wardens , " Sec . I ., in the Book of Constitutions we find : " They cannot act as Wardens of a private lodge while they continue Grand

Warden . The noble lord will have only been a Warden of his lodge for one year on the next day of installation and during' some nine months of that time will have fallen under the incapacity mentioned above . Under these circumstances can he be said to havc " regularly served as Warden of a warranted lodge for one

year" ( Book of Constitutions , title" Of Private Lodges , " Sec . 2 ) , and so be eligible for the chair ? I ask these questions with no feeling of hostility to our noble brother , whom I do not know , but simply to obtain information , and to be able to answer them myself when put to me by those who persist in looking for instruction from even A YOUNG RULER OF THE CRAFT .

THE GIRLS' SCHOOL SWIMMING BATH . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Although the Court of Governors of thc Royal Masonic Institution for Girls at its meeting on Saturday week last authorised the expenditure of two thousand pounds for a swimming bath , yet I hope thc House Com-

Original Correspondence.

mittee will show its consideration of the protest of one of thc most charitable lodges in the Province of East Lancashire , by considering how far the cost of this bath may be reduced . I do not wish to say a word against the bath , which is , no doubt , essential to cleanliness and conducive to health ; but those who preach this gospel of soap and water may possibly , on further consideration , arrive at the

conclusion that the sum named is too great to expend on a bath which will not be always in use , and which will not be used by all the girls at the same time . Under the impression that one half the expense will fulfil all the requirements , and enable the girls to perform proper and sufficient ablutions , I venture to hope that the House Committee will reconsider the resolution they have carried . Very truly yours , JAMES A . BIRCH . Manchester , October 12 th .

FREEMASONRY IN JAMAICA . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , Bro . W . F . Lamonby having been pleased to notice , in your issue of the 20 th August last , my brief historical sketch of the rise and progress of Freemasonry in

Jamaica , supplied in the Government Handbook of this Colony for the current year ; and having also called attention to the fact that I had not included the lodge in which Bro . Simon Miller was initiated , I have now to explain that in the second paiagraph of my sketch I had , to avoid encumbering it with the names of defunct lodges , stated

that from 1771 to 1775 " nine other lodges" had been instituted , and Bro . Lamonby will now see , by tbe subjoined list , that I had not overlooked the lodge in which Bro . Miller was initiated . The " nine other lodges " referred to were these : — No . 419 . Harmony Lodge , Kingston ... 1771 .

No . 420 . St . James s Lodge , Montcgo Bay , 1771 . No . 421 . Union Lodge , St . James's ... 1771 . No . 446 . Union Lodge , Kingston ... 1773 . No . 447 . Beaufort Lodge , Kingston ... 1773 . No . 4 S 3 . Green Island Lodge , Hanover ... 1773 . No . 4 85 . Lucca Lodge , Hanover '

773-No . 4 S 6 . Spanish Town Lodge , St . Catherine , 1773 . No . 4 S 7 . Union Lodge , Savannah-la-Mar 1773 . It is , however , evident from Bro . Miller's certificate that he was one of the earliest of the initiates of the Union Lodge of Savannah-la-Mar . I am thankful to Bro . Lamonby for the information he

has supplied by Bro . Miller's certificate , and would be glad to acknowledge similar service from brethren ablo to give mc other items of information to enable me to complete a history of Freemasonry in Jamaica that 1 havc now in hand . With the exception of a solitary Past Master in Kingston , whose antiquated views take us back to the year

1720 , when scrupulous brethren preferred to burn valuable MSS . rather than submit them for inspection , I have met with little or no difficulty in obtaining the perusal of existing minutes and documents bearing on the rise and progress of our Order in this Colony ; so I hope , at no distant day , to supply the Craft with an interesting account of our

work in this country , even though 1 may have to ignore entirely a Kingston lodge , whose charter dates from the year 1 S 09 . Thanking you forthe space afforded , I remain , dear Sir and brother , fraternally yours , H . J . BURGER . Kingston , Jamaica , 24 th September .

MASONIC IMPOSTORS . —A WARNING . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Referring to my letter under this heading , and which you kindly inserted for me on the 1 st inst ., I havc had a communication from a brother of the Carnarvon

Lodge , No . S 04 , Havant , stating that an application was made to him by a " Charles Southwood , of No . 954 , St . Aubyn , Devonport , " who he believed to be the person to whom I referred , and whose real name is Charles II . Couch My correspondent describes him as " having dark hair and complexion ; something the matter with his feet , that is ,

walks very tenderly ; height about five feet five or six inches . " When Charles II . Couch applied tome I did not take notice of these particulars , but generally they agree with my impression of the individual . As he had written to me for an interview , I sent on his note to my correspondent at Havant , and am favoured with this reply , "The

Almoner informs me that he is sure the hand-writing is the same as the individual , Charles Southwood , showed him . " This man Couch , who is now so imposing on the members of thc Craft , has a history at Devonport which , through personal friends ( non-Masons ) , is now well known tome ; and it is not a creditable one . In the interests of

the Order I sincerely hope that this " warning" may be the means of stopping his career of imposture . I have now lost him between Havant and Portsmouth . If he should again attempt to use the name of the respectable lodge "St . Aubyn , " in which he was unfortunately

initiated , 1 hope it may be to some brother who may read this letter , and that I shall be informed of it . As far as I can individually do so , I shall take all necessary pains to bring him to account and " stop his little game . " Yours fraternally , JAMES STEVENS . Clapham , November 13 th , 1 SS 1 .

Reviews.

Reviews .

THE MASONIC RECEPTION AT YORK . By Bro . T . B . WHYTEHEAD . Yorkshire Gazette Office , York-. This is an interesting account of a very remarkable " assembly " in the annals of English and York Freemasonry . The idea was a good one in itself , admirably carried out , and the successful result of much anxious

forthought and skilful elaboration , will , we doubt not , do good to Masonic arch .-eology . In the first place it shows us that , if some doubt , we do not , that there is a latent desiie in the Craft for a more intellectual display of Masonic normal life , and really that the " resources" of Masonic " civilization" are much more numerous and

striking than we are wont to fancy or believe . We congratulate once again those who laboured so zealously to perfect their good work , on this happy outcome both of genial hospitality and Masonic aestheticism , long to remain an " alba dies " for " York Masons ; " and we also thank Bro . Whytehead fcr a very seasonable reminder of the wise things said , and the good things collected .

THE EGYPT OF THE PAST . By ERASMUS WILSON , F . R . S . Kegan , Paul , French , and Co . London , 1 SS 1 . This long-expected work of our distinguished and respected brother has now appeared , and will be full of gratification for Egyptologists , and all who feel an interest in the mysterious record * of a departed civilization—the

memories and monuments of a wondrous , if prostrate , people . If around the Egypt of to-day there still centre many sympathies and associations , and hopes and fears , and anticpations and expectations , these are vastly different from those which linger by thc banks of the Nile , amid ruined temples and fallen palaces , by pyramids which speak in silent solemnity to our living heart

of dead and buried centuries , to burial places which point to rifled tombs , and forgotten , if royal , occupants . Egypt is a land of mystery and awe , great , weird , and overwhelming , and affects alike the student of the past and him who only sees in the filings of the present a type of results which shall one day be . What strides has Egyptology made since Denon and his " sages " surveyed

thc land of Mizraim ; since Young and Champolh ' on deciphered mystic hieroglyhs ; since the labours of the patient student were devoted to the unrolling and reading of "hieratic papyri" of royal "cartouches , " of pictured inscriptions , and of long-buried MSS . The Book of the Dead is no more a sealed book to the expert , or to the labours of Egyptologists , —among whom we may

count a j'oung and rising brother of our Order , now one of the greatest authorities on the subject . A greater insight into Egypt as she was , " The Egypt of the Past , " is vouchsafed to us to-day than at any previous epoch was either possible , or seemed to be probable . The buried puerilities of Kircher have long since given way to the prolific studies of Lepsius and Osborne , Brugsch and Mariette ,

of lextor de Ravisi and Rcnouf , of Birch and Maspero , of Navelle , and the Society of Biblical Archaeology . We , who as " unexperts" linger among the ruins , or pore over the records ofthe Egypt of the past , are like travellers standing at the entrance of some great , if ruined , temple , majestic still in its very "debris" and as we gaze are filled with wonder and delight . Egypt is still , to us , the land " par excellence" of

marvels and of mystery , of interest and intelligence . Bro . Erasmus Wilson accepts the views of the modern school of Egyptologists as to the actual correctness of thc fragments of Manetho which remain , and on which Bunscn , and Lepsius , and many others needless to name , have founded that scheme of chronology which carries Egyptian civilization to pre-antediluvian times , in respect of the

Bible chronology . It is just possible that , like the fabulous cosmogonies of Hindostan , these long cycles of years and these protracted lists of kings , —whether on Babylonian cylinders or Egyptian monuments , —may yet be reduced , by a duplicate , and even a triplicate , process of synchronous dynasties , and b y the weeding out of repetitions which have been inserted by the

fallacious memories cf cunning scribes , or interpolated by the hands of ignorant translators . All the Oriental cosmogenies and dynastic records seem to lean in this one direction , and it is just possible that the great " crux " of all Oriental investigation may yet by clearer evidence become a matter of easy accommodation . Bro . Erasmus Wilson also adopts the "burial" theory of the pyramids . on certainly very clear and well-stated grounds , in opposition to the

views of the " pyramidal school . Our best thanks are due to writers like our Bro . Erasmus VVilson , who do not disdain outof their accumulated stores ofwisdom and research to pave thc way for , and remove the difficulties ol , humbler students . We have read Bro . Erasmus Wilson ' s book with singular pleasure , and commend it to the notice and perusal of all our readers . The illustrations are characteristic and very effective .

HISTOIRE DU TRIBUNAL REVOLUTIONNAIRE DE PARIS . Par H . WALLON , Hachettc ct Cie . Paris . Tome V . The fifth volume of this very striking and seasonable work is before us , though awful in the reality of its very awfulness . Wc left off in the fourth volume with what were called the " Massacres of thc Luxembourg , " a

dreadful recital , as some of our readers will recall to mind ; and on the 19 th July , 1 794 , the work of "blood " began anew , and countless judicial murders thence went on , "de die in diem , " including the massacre of the eighteen Carmelite priests at Compiegnc , which , in its abominable cruelty and loathsome iniquity , reminds us of the deliberate murder of the eight poor Carmelite nuns , on the 21 st Pluviose , the is

9 th hebruary , 1 ^ 94 . A dreadful case recorded , among many more , on the 19 th July , by thc "Grcfficr" on the olficial registers , when a young "St . Pern , " aged only seventeen , is brought before the Tribunal , in mistake for his aged father , with his poor mother . And when he proposes to produce his certificate of age , & c , Dumas says , " I want none of your certificates , " and he is condemned .

A long list of forty-nine thoroughly innocent victims it sent to the guillotine on the 5 th 'I hermidor , July 23 rd , and a numerous cortege had passed out daily since the 19 th , of all ranks , conditions , young and old , noble and working men . A batch , —or , as the French say , a"fournee , " —of twtnty-four is condemned on the 25 th ; another of twenty-six on the 25 th , including thc poet Andrei Chenier , and , as we remarked just now , with cruel impartiality made up of all