Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The Editor it not responsible for the opinion * expressed by Correspondents THE MAEK DEGREE .

IO TEE E 3 HT 0 B OT THE ]? I 1 EEMAS 0 N ' S MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIMIOH . Dear Sir and Brother , —In reference to this subject which I treated upon at pages 89 and 108 , the following from Bro . " Wm . Officer , Junior Grand Deacon , Grand Lodge of Scotland , and P . M . of the Lodge of EdinburghMary ' s Chapelmay he interesting . In

, , intimating his concurrence with what has been said , he observes , " My knowledge of the subject leads me to be entirely of your view . M . C . ( i . e . Mary ' s Chapel ) never wrought the Mark Degree until 1869 , when I introduced it . * It formerly gave marks to its members like other old lodges . "

I am , X ours fraternally , W . P . B-uciujf .

The Sloane Ms., 3,329., Art. 29.

THE SLOANE MS ., 3 , 329 ., ART . 29 .

TO THE EDITOE OJ ? IDE CTEEMASONS' MAGAZINE AND MASONIC MIKE 0 OE Dear Sir and Brother , —As I originally drew my learned Bro . Findel ' s attention to the interesting Art . 29 , MS ., 3 , 329 , Sloane , I shall be glad to be permitted to say a few words on the subject : Some years ago now , when I was Avorking hard in my Masonic studies and investigationsin the British

, Museum , I chanced to stumble on Art . 29 of the Sloane MS ., 3 , 329 , or perhaps rather had my own attention called to it by Mr . K . Sims , then , as now , a very able and skilful "Employe " in the MS . department .

It struck me at once how important a document it was , with regard to the " vexata quastio " of the antiquity of our Masonic ritual and its history , if only it could really he shown to be , Avhat it seemingly professed to be , a MS . of at least the latter part of the preceding century . "Under these circumstances . I consulted my learned

friend , Mr . W . K . Wallbrau , the Editor of the Chartulary of Fountain ' s Abbey , than Avhom there ¦ was not , and could not be found , a more reliable authority on such matters . He and I paid more than one visit together to the British Museum , and looked carefully over the MS . studied its Avriting

, , its " archaisms , " and all these " indicia ? , " which those , who are skilled in such matters , look to as conclusive of the true age of auy MS . We came to the unhesitating conclusion , that the MS . dated from the middle , and rather before the middle of the lastcentury , and he quite appwed of the

statement I made on his great authority , iu one of my earlier communications to the Magazine , that the Manuscript really dated from 16-10 to 1660 . He , alas ! ia no more with us to support my statement to-day , but I have myself , since that time , often perused the MS . fand compared it with other MSS . of the middle of the last century , and I have , no doubt , in my own mind , that that is the true and

proper date of it , and so far I have seen nothing put forward by any competent authority , to make me change my opinion in the slightest degree . "When t showed the MS . 3329 here to Bro . Findel , even in the transcript he was greatly struck with it , admitted fully its intense importance in the

Masonic controversy , and seemed to accept it as decisive on the question of the antiquity of the third degree before 1700 , of which , previously , he had himself been somewhat doubtful . Those who read the " Mittheilungen" of the "Deutscher Verein" knows that he repeats there

, how he studied it in the British Museum , and fixes its age , on the authority , as he tells us , of two of the officials , towards the end of the last century . He makes a very ingenious suggestion , that this 3329 MS . is the MS . from which Dr . Plot drew his

information , Avhich he uses in the " History of Staffordshire , " of Avhich the first edition was published so early as 1686 or 1685 , aud certain it is , as far as I know , that no other MS . but the 3329 MS ., contain the exact words quoted by Dr . Plot . Bro . Buchan has on previous occasions , and especially in the last number of the

Magazineat-, tempted to throAv doubt on the antiquity of this MS ., for reasons which must be very obvious to all who have taken any interest in that , to my mind , most idle controversy , which has been so long proceeding , with respect to the real antiquity of Freemasonry . I therefore make every allowance for Bro . Buchan ' s-

natural anxiety to get rid of the alleged antiquity of the 3329 MS ., but J do not see why we are hastily tcsacrifice so valuable , and so important a document ; J the more so , if it can be shown conclusively that there is no valid evidence -whatever against the date already given to the MS . " of or about the middle of

, last century . " Even if Bro . Buchan could reduce the antiquity of the MS . to the early part of the 18 th century , it would not strengthen his position . Bro . Buchan brings four authorities against the

alleged antiquity of the MS . First he gives , his own opinion , but as Bro . Buchan has as yet only seen a transcript , and not the original MS ., he is so far not competent to express an opinion on the subject , as the age of a MS . cannot be decided by off-hand assertions , but requires some study and some practice in this

peculiar branch of archaeology , before anyone is really able to speak with any reliable authority on such a difficult subject . Bro . Hughan is introduced hy Bro . Buchan , as a quasi supporter of the comparatively modern date of the MS ., but Bro . Hughan ' s expressed opinions areas

, always , very careful and very accurate . He gives the various opinions of its date , beginning from 1640 , and it may he that he inclines to a somewhat later date , but even that does not forward Bro . Buchan ' s endeavour to date the MS . after 1720 , which is really too absurd .

Mr . Bond and Mr . Sims are mentioned , the former with great caution , saying about 1710 , and though , as I understand his words , the date may be much earlier , and Mr . Sims gives with the same margin , stating about the end of the last century , which , hoAvever , would he equally fatal to Bro . Buchan's theorv .