New Members.

the best interests of our Order , we think it « ell to say a few words to-day . Caution is incumbent on all Freemasons in respect of those they recommend as candidates for Freemasonry . Tt is not every one who professes to wish to

become a Mason who is therefore at once to be admitted . We should always carefully consider if hs be , to use well-known expressions just now , of a '' good sort , " in " good form , " of the " stuff * " likely to make a good Mason . The " Drones" are very many in our great Masonic

hive , will he be a " Bee ? " The dullards are numerous , will he be a " bright Mason ? " The adep ts in the mysteries of the high grade of the " Knife and Fork " are abounding , will he be among those to whom Freemasonry is something better , higher , tiuer , more enduring , than a

convivial gathering , a benefit order , a goose club ? Should we like to introduce the new member to our friends and families ? or would we freely consort with him out of the lodge ? Unless we can safely answer these questions in the affirmative we have no right , it seems to us , to introduce

or to admit a new member into our little fraternal circle , the lodge . The time has passed , happily , when the old view can any longer prevail , that " as long as a man could pay the fees and his subscription " that was all that we need "enquire about . " Much of the present weakness of

Freemasonry , such as it is , prevails from want of caution in admitting new members , and the forgetfuiness of many of our good brethren of their responsibility in this respect . All elements in a lodge which are neither congruous nor compatible with our system or our teaching must lead

to demoralization and discord , and we know of no more uncomfortable or unhappy state of things , than when a lodge is composed of heterogeneous materials , for it is sure to break up either into sections and factions , or to degenerate

into a debating club or a " caucus . We speak these words in all kindness and fraternal good will , and with some little experience , and trust they will be well taken by all those whom they may in any way concern .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[\ V't do wot bold ourselves responsible for , or even approving ol , the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish in T spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary liniits—free discussion . ]

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Through the kindness <> f a valued American friend and brother I have perused the last published Proceedings of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the U . S . r . f America , at Boston , and I find it there declared "that

it is a settled principle of the law of the rite that in a dependency , colony , or province of a country , in which there is a Supreme Council , no foreign power can create or authorise the creation of a Supreme Council , and a body so created as a Supreme Council has no legal existence . " We are not told when , or by what authority , such a principle of law was settled , and I respectfully dispute both

the accuracy antl soundness of the statement . No such principle is embraced in the Constitutions of the Order . Indeed , it is absolutely antagonistic to the objects and principles for the propagation of which the Older was instituted , and which the Constitutions nobly sub-sum by shortly declaring to bc everywhere , " in fine , to t * o the works of peace anil mercy . "

The Constitutions , too , declare in their very first article that the Thirty-third Degree invests those Masons possesing it " with the character , title , privileges , and authority if Sovereign Grand Inspectors General of the Order , " and among these is enumerated the power to form Supreme Councils in places where the degree may be established . The Constitutions do not restrict the action cf aSmenign

Grand Inspector General in the formation of Supreme Grand Councils , either by his own nationality or by that of the Council from which he derivctl his patent . His power , like the objects and principles of the Order , is cosmopolitan , and to carry them out it is essential that his powers should be so , fcr , as already stated , those objects and principles are " everywhere , " irrespective of locality ,

to do " works of peace and mercy , " for which in every country there is , alas , too vast a field . But has the Supreme Council of Boston , which propounds this proposition , been in its own actions regulated ° y it ? It has not , for although a Supreme Council exited in both Ireland and Scotland , prior to the formation ° f the Supreme Council of England and Wales , the

Supreme Council or Boston , a foreign power , createtl , or authorised the creation , of the Suprtme Council of England ; and it still recognises it as a lawful body , in direct violation of the principlis it now lays dewn . If the principle of the Boston Supreme Council be settled Jaw , it follows that the Councils both of England and j ° 'and are unlawful ; and that Boston has acted unlawfull y in creating the Supreme Council of England , and still

Original Correspondence.

acts an illegal part in recognising both it and the Supreme Council of Scotland . We also find on the part of the Supreme Council of France a similar disiegard of the principle in question , for , according to the representations of the Supreme Council of Scotland , that body was formed under the authority of the Supreme Council of that country , although at the time a Supreme Council was in active existence in

Ireland . There are other similar cases . The principle of law laid down as settled by the Supreme Council of Boston , tested by its own actions , by those of other Supreme Councils , and by the Constitutions of the Order is thus manifestly unsound in principle , and incorrect in fact . Yours fraternally , A 33 " 1-

THE VALUE OF FREEMASONRY . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Annexed I beg to hand you an extract of a letter from a personal ftien . l , a Colonel in the army , in

reply to inviting him to my lodge ; it records an interesting fact—probably a valuable suggestion—and it occurs to me that you might consider it sufficiently so to reproduce it in the columns of your paper . I remain ? - dear Sir , yours faithfully , P . M . G . M . L , No . i , P . G . D . 22 nd May , 1879 .

( EXTIIACT . ) "I have always considered Freemasonry the most valuable fraternity in existence , anil to a soldier and travelltr about the world a most useful institution . As an instance of it , Colonel tills mc that when he was in Cabul ( in the first Afghan war ) he found the Afghans full of hatred and dislike to our presence ; but otic day passing

through the bazaar he saw two Afghan chiefs make the Masonic sign to each other . Colonel , who was a Mason , did the same to them . They all three spoke Persian , and asked them if thire was a lotlge in Cabul , 'Oh , yes , ' they taid , ' a very large one , and if you like wc will introduce you there . ' He accordingly went . They were very civil to him . He soon became friendly wilh them , and wherever he desired to go about the

country they detailed a party to accompany him antl protect him . With their aitl he visited the ruined cities if Alexander the Great , and collected Greek coins there . Marching away with General Sale , they taw him safely off ; and , in my opinion , the Masons in the army in the present campaign woultt do wi ll to look up the lodges in Afghanistan , and make friends -wilh the chiefs through their lodges . "

To the Editor if the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Most of the lodges ( Masonic ) in and around Loudon instal the W . M . about this time of year , and I have been honoured by very kintl invitations to a great many more than I have been able to attend , but at almost all those that 1 have attended the W . M . has been generally

rewarded for his conduct 111 the chair by an unanimous vote to the brother of a P . M . jewel of the value of five or ten guineas , according to the state of the lodge funds . If a brother does his duty in the chair , and has given the different degrees and lectures in a creditable manner , I think that some recognition of his services should be awarded him , but in some instances I have seen the W . M . already

in possession of a Past Master s jewel ; therefore : : 1 nnot be of the same value to him as it would be to a 1 : other passing the chair for the first time . It has lately struck me that the guineas awarded for jewels would be much better spent on our Charities , and instead of voting five guineas for a jewel it it might be given to one of the Charities in the name of

the P . M ., thereby giving him a vote for life and being of considerable benefit to the Charities , which should bc recorded on the minutes . I think it very probable that in many instances if a brother were asked on his leaving the chair , he would prefer a life subsc ribcrship in one ol the

Chanties to a jewel , and I think many would choose the life subscribership , ivhercas a jewel is a pretty decoration , but of very little benefit to any one but the jeweller . I lowever , when the money is voted a brother who has just passed the chair might have his choice . Yours Fraternally , FRAS . BURDETT , P . S . G . W ., P . G . M . Middx ., Rep . of G . L . Ireland .

MASONIC GRAMMAR , & c . To Ihc Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Your correspondent , signing himself " Lindley Murray , " describes himself as a stickler for the purity of our English tongue . He is no doubt aware of the fact that the term stickler is dt rived from the practice of

prizefighters , who are in the habit of placing seconds with sticks to interpose as occasion may require in seeing that all proceedings between the parties are conducted fairly ; but it is to bc regretted that your correspondent has , in this instance , interfered unnecessarily ; and that , after a wellmeant effort on his part , the purity of the English language , for which he is so ready to stand up , should owe him nothing .

Let me say , in the first place , that many will fail to see the propriety of quoting Dr . Johnson as an authority in this matter . It must be admitted that modern usage is a great authority in deciding the meaning to be attached to particular words . Johnson lived a hundred years ago , and it is quite natural that after the lapse of a century many words should come to be used in different senses to those in which they were used by the great lexicographer . Your correspondent himself admits that usage in the particular

Original Correspondence.

case to which he refers warrants the use which he condemns of the word exceptionable . I observe in the next place that your correspondent is quite in error in supposing , as he does , that exceptional and exceptionable are synonymous words . As a stickler he ought to have been more discriminating . The word exceptional is applied to such things as form or make an

exception ; whereas the term exceptionable implies that things are liable to objection . There is a clear distinction here which it is remarkable that a correspondent having such a nom de plume should have failed to discover . Accepting this as the correct interpretation of these words , exceptional might have been used in preference to exceptionable ; ai . d , indeed , except for the proximity of the word

except , in preference to special or peculiar . In conclusion let me point out that in your correspondent ' s letter there is little to show that he is qualified for assuming the office of a censor in this matter . In the fir .-t sentence of his letter he has misplaced the adverb hardly . He says he hardly thinks , whereas he immediately proceeds to show how strongly indeed he thinks . The word

hardly in his letter is evidently intended to have more to do with the correctness than with his thinking , and he ought to have written " which I think is hardly correct . " It is further to be noticed that at the close of his letter he uses the past tense of the potential mood would be where he might more correctly have used the pluperfect would

have been , since , of course , there is now no likelihood of the words of the report being altered to suit his erroneous idea of what is correct . It is also very doubtful whether he could not have used a better word than apply in the connection in which it occurs . I am , yours fraternally , T . M . IRON , J . W . 417 .

MASONIC WORKS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM . To the Editor ofthe " Frctmason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — In the article on Masonic Books in the British Museum in the Freemason of last week , mention is made as to the probable date of the publication of Robison's ' Proofs of a Conspiracy , & c . " Upon referring to the Preliminary

Discourse to the third volume of Barruel ' s Memoirs ( mine is Clifford ' s translation , 2 nd edit ., 1798 ) , I find the author there speaks of Robison's work appearing just as his third volume was going to press . Barruel's attention was called to this work by his translator , and therefore if the

Preliminary Discourse is in the first edition of translation , it will give the date of publication of Robison ' s work . In the . Memoirs the name is spelled Robison . Yours fraternally , Mav 29 th , 1879 . G . ELLIS .

Reviews.

Reviews .

THE FOUR OLD LODGES . By Bro . R . T . GOULD , Barrister at Law . Spencer , London . It is impossible in the limited space of our review column to do justice to this interesting and important work , which deserves all the notice we can afford , and much more in truth than we can possibly afford to its consideration and analysis . To Bro . Gould all Masonic students owe a deep debt of

gratitude in that , following in the footsteps of Bro . Hughan and others , he has devoted no little time , patience , and acumen to the elucidation of that often " vexata quanstio , " the numeration and identification of English Lodges . Indeed it is but fair to say that to Bro . Gould ' s persevering researches antl lucid statements we are indepttd for much that is for the first time clearly brought

before Masonic students and archaeologists . Some brethren are apt hastily to say that such enquiries are " lost labour , industry , and energy expended in vain ; for what does it matter , ' cui bono' to any one ? " But in this view we entirely disagree with them , and think them , moreover , entirely wrong . However trifling , however tedious , however minute , however meaningless , seemingly such

enquiries may appear to them to be , and to some other supeificial talker ? , they are very important in themselves , in that they serve to illustrate and uphold the true history of our Order , in that they pave the way for archaeological enquiries and discoveries , and in that , above all , they serve to point out clearly to all , how curious and how complicated are these lodge annals of ours , which we too often coldly

neglect or contemptuously under-value . Bro . Gould has wisely seen and seasonbly demonstrated , and in this we heartily go with him , that not only is the true history of English Freemasonry to be yet written , but that if you wish for an accurate representation of it in general , you must base it upon a correct application of lotlge

life and histoiy in particular . We therefore beg to call attention to this very valuable work , which we have read with great pleasure , and trust sincerely that it may receive both the support and circulation which it so truly merits . We hope that a much fuller review of it will appear in the pages of the June Masonic Magazine .

LE BULLETIN DES TRAVAUX DU SUPREME CONSEIL DE BELZ 1 QUE . Bruxeller : Julien Buertsoeu , 1879 . We have perused this report—kindly sent us Ly Bro . Riche—with interest and approval . So far , happily , the "Grand Conseil" of the Belgian Ancient and Accepted Rite is standing by the ancient landmarks and " formula ' , "

and we , therefore , are glad to recognize this agreeable fact . We fear , however , that untoward influences are at work with all foreign Freemasonry just now , whether under Grand Oiients or Grand Conseils , which , unless checked , must tend to undermine and biing down all Freemasonry , whether High Grade or Craft . For instance , the Ancien and Accepted Itite abroad has , we believe , no " prayers ,