Correspondence.

Sir Kmghfc Hughan as an honorarium for that excellent brother ' s exertions for the extension of the Order . Will Bro . Hughan , in his next article on the "Analysis of Ancient and Modern Masonry , " kindly inform us when the Grand Cross ofthe Order was instituted , and whether Constantine the Great was a

Grand Cross of the Order ? Is this degree recognised by any of the executive bodies in the United Kingdom or Ireland—viz ., the Grand Lodges , Grand Chapters , Grand Conclave of Knight Templars , Supreme Grand Council of the A . A . Riteor by the Grand Lodge of Mark

, Masters ? Are brethren visiting any of these bodies permitted to wear the collar of the Order ? Is the ritual founded upon the fable of the finding the True Cross by the Empress Helena , and that other fable narrated in Roman history relative to the

miraculous cross seen in the heavens which led Constantine to gain a great victory over the heathen ? Perhaps Bro . Hyde Clarke will inform us whether the Order is recognised by either the Grand Orient or the Supreme Conseil in France ? or whether it is newly imported from the Eastand as yet unknown to

, Western Europe ? Perhaps , also , he will kindly state when the Bed Cross Knights of Constantine first became connected with Freemasonry , and whether Constantino himself was a Freemason , or singly a rather Jtodd man ? Tours fraternally ,

. ~ . _ - TO THE EDIIOIt ON Till-: FIIREMASOXS' MAOAE-. I ^ S A * D JIASONIC MIIIROR . Dear Sir and Brother , —I regret to find that your correspondent > h should have chosen to write of the abovenamed Order in a vein of such perceptible irony . His assertion as to tbe title of Bi ght Honourable not being applicable to Lord Kenlis is scarcelin

y good taste , and I need only allude to the fact that if the Bed Cross Herald erred in thus designating his lordship , he erred in good company , as a reference to the advertisement columns of the Magazine relative to the Festival of the Girls' School ' will abundantly testify . Our friend > Jn ' s also slightly out in his facts .

In the first place , he states that in the replies given by Bro . Little to some rather pertinent questions respecting the alleged antiquity of the Bed Cross Order , the said brother was remarkably reticent and obscure . The truth of the matter is , I believe , that Bro . Little never replied at all to the irrelevant queries referred

to—emanating as they did from a person who persistently refused to disclose his name when requested , and Bro . Little ' s colleagues therefore counselled him not to do battle in propria persona while the querist remained snugly ensconced under the shadow of his nom de flume . Again > J < says that "Mackey's

, Lexicon" " is silent as to the very existence of the Order . " The best answer to this is to quote from the book itself ( page 2 S 5 , edition 1 . 860 , edited b y Donald Campbell ) , which is now before me : — " Red Cross of Rome and Constantine . —A degree founded on the circumstances ofthe vision of a cross with the

inscription EN TONIKA , which appeared in the heavens to Constantine while on a march . " The information given in this extract is , it is true , somewhat meagre ; but that is easily accounted for when we consider

Correspondence.

that very little is known of the Order in America , where , I am informed , it is conferred only upon Past Eminent Commanders of Knights Templar . Even in England the Order was , until its revival iu 1 S 65 " , chiefly confined to the heads of the Craft , and this will in some measure account for its almost total

extinction . In 1 S 13 its principal members were the Dukes of Kent and Sussex , both Grand Masters ; Lord Hawke , Provincial Grand Master for Westmoreland ; Lord Rancliffe , P . G . M . for Leicestershire ; Consul-General W . R . Wright , author of "Horse Ionica ; , " and immortalised in Byron ' s "English Bards

and Scotch Reviewers , ' ' P . G . M . for the Ionian Islands ; H . J . Da Costa , P . G . M . for Rutland ; J . Goff , P . G . M . for Hayti ; A . D . O'Kelly , P . G . M . for Bedfordshire ; Simon M'Gillivray , P . G . M . for Upper Canada ' ¦ Rev . Samuel Hemming , D . D ., Grand Chaplain ; J . C . Buckhardt , P . G . D . ; ' Rev . G . A . Browne , Dep . P . G . M . for Cambridge and Huntingdon ; T . W .

II . Woodthorpe and H . Woodthorpe , names still remembered in the city of London ; F . Perkins , C . Perkins , and A . Perkins , members , I believe , of the eminent firm ; Rev . W . Gretton , D . I ) . ; lis v . C . Dalton ; Ilev . 0 . Belfour ; W . H . White , G . See . ; Dr . 11 . Jebb , P . G . M . Coromandel ; 0 . Greenwood

( father of the present Bro . Greenwood , Prov . G . Sec . for Surrey ); and others whose names are equally household words in Freemasonry . In conclusion , I may observe that it will require something more potent than sneers at the alleged antiquity of the Order to induce its rapidly-increasing adherents to

forsake the lied Cross Banner , and I believe it is neither impossible nor improbable that the day will arrive when the pure and simple teachings of this " wonderful chivalric" fraternity will be recognised , as more in consonance with the broad princip les of the Craft , than the reveries of Ramsay , or the subsequent inventions of similar chevaliers d'industrie . Tours fraternally , No CEOSS , so CHOWS ' .

The Master Masons' Degree.

THE MASTER MASONS' DEGREE .

TO THE EDITOII OF THE VUEEirASO . VS' HAGAZISE A ^ D MASONIC IIIIiliOR . Dear Sir and Brother , —As anything bearing on tlie antiquity or modern character o [ the Master Masons' degree must be of interest to your readers , I make no excuse for sending you the following extract from Routledge ' s "Natural History of Man . "

On page 33-i of that interesting work is given an illustration and descrip tion of the ceremonies which take place at the death of a chief ^ and the concluding scene in a Bechuana funeral is shown in the illustration on page 335 , which is thus described : — "In the background is seen the fence of th ^ kraal

in which a hole has been broken through which the body of the deceased has been carried . Behind the men who are lowering the body into the grave is a girl bearing in her hands the branch of acacia -which is to be placed on the liccul of tlie corpse , evidently a relie of some tradition long ago forgottenorat all events

, , , of which iJiey profess to be ignorant . At the side stands the old woman who bears the weapons of the deceased chief , his spears , axe and bow ; and in the foreground are the bowl of water for lustration , and the hoes with which the grave has been dug . "