The Antiquity Of Masonic Degrees.

THE ANTIQUITY OF MASONIC DEGREES .

LONDON , SATURDAY , FEBRUARY li , 1863 .

( From a Correspondent ?) The great length to which my remarks have already extended in the pages of THE MAGAZINE would seem , of necessity , in itself silently to protest against any protracted abuse of so valuable a privilege . Indeed , these hastand unstudied observations would now

y have finally been brought to a close , had not THE MAGAZINE of February 1 th contained , in the correspondence , another letter from " Delta . " It is impossible not to be somewhat startled with the amusing complacency with which that letter begins ; for when we ransack the past numbers of THE

MAGAZINE in order to ascertain the proof which " must indeed be evident to any impartial reader , " we find , DO doubt , the maximum of assertion , but we can only stumble upon the minimum of proof ; indeed , we may fairly say that proof is altogether Avanting . Not one scintilla of satisfactory witness , not one iota of historical evidence available to the enquirer , available even to Masons , has "Delta" yet offered to

us , beyond his own mere ipse dixit , either in respect of the superior antiquity of the Templar degree , or in respect of that still more extraordinary statement he hazards to-day , " that speculative Masonic ceremonies though equivalent , were yet distinct , separate , and entirely different from those of the operative Ereemasons . " Nowhad I been disposed to

, answer to "Delta , " and indulge alone in assertion or asseveration , simply to express my own firm conviction , or to enforce a favourite theory , I could soon have filled , with unhesitating eagerness , a much larger space then I even did . But wishing to bring the above matter to a simple and easy issue , namely , that

of credible evidence of historical accuracy alone— -all the remarks I have already troubled you with were carefully supported by the valuable and cogent authority of distinct , of straightforward , of unimpeachable , testimony' —testimony , too , alien from our Masonic body , and uninfluenced by Masonic prepossessions . Take for instance the evidence of Dr . Plat ; what can be more destructible than that of " Delta ' s " whole

theory r Yet of this competent witness , this serious antagonist , " Delta " does not condescend to take the slightest notice . And so in other particulars needless now to re- capitulate . Is it not , then , rather too hard that "Delta " should after all unhesitatingly assert that all those are partial readersnot impartialwho do not accept his

, , rough statements as indubitable proofs and historical facts ? Is it not , indeed , worse than childish to ignore the authority of credible witnesses , in order to advance the questionable importance and more than doubtful antiquity of some pet degree ? To cover the hopelessness of an untenable position ,

by the determined obtrusion of an unreasoning hypothesis , nothing has already tended so much to discredit Masonic historians , and to impede Masonic enquiry , as the random assertions of imaginative writers , and the unsupported dicta of an assumed infallibility . Let me then protest once more , in the pages of the MAGAZINE , against "Delta's "theory and " Delta ' s " assertion , as derogatory , most derogatory ,

The Antiquity Of Masonic Degrees.

to the dignity , the value , the very reality of our three most ancient degrees , Apprentice , Eellow- Craft , Master Mason . Let me conclude , Avith the assertion , supported as I have sought to support it , by clear and incontestible inferences , that no impartial student can compare

carefully together operative charges and speculative traditions , the usages of the one , the ceremonies of the other , the history of the past and the evidence of the present , without feeling convinced of the superior antiquity of our three Craft degrees , without being completely satisfied in his own mind that operative and speculative Masonry are indeed the same . "R liOK .

New Materials For The Life Of John Flaxman, R.A.

NEW MATERIALS FOR THE LIFE OF JOHN FLAXMAN , R . A .

From the Builder . My father brought a full-stored mind to the life of the greatest of English sculptors—John Elaxman . He himself knew Elaxman , —had heard him deliver his lectures before the Royal Academy , —was always a curious enquirer about the of the man he

ways admired , —and sat down to his work with a determination to write a life that would live . Nor was he content with such advantages alone . He sat with the great sculptor's sister and sister-in-law ( Miss Elaxman and Miss Denman , his nearest surviving relations , ) talked unreservedly with them about our

English Phidias , and made Boswellian notes before them , which he enlarged at home . He questioned Elaxman ' s great rival in his latter life—Sir Erahcis Chantrey , —and Sir Richard Westmacott , his competitor , in the full swing of his mid-career reputation . Chantrey knew little about Elaxman ; but that little

, from so observing a man , was all to the point . What Westmacott had to tell ( or rather had not to tell , ) I have often heard my father relate with a smile , always ending in a hearty laugh at Westmacott ' s idea of the wants of biography . "I called on Westmacott , in South Audley-street , by appointment , " my father was

wont to relate , " note-book in hand . He knew the object of my visit . ' I wish I could tell you , ' said Westmacott , ' anything about Elaxman that would be of use to yoti in your work ; but I cannot . Elaxman , sir , lived as if he did not belong to the world ; his ways were not our ways . He had odd fashions ; he dressed—you know how he dressedhe dined at

; one ; wrought after dinner , which no other artist does ; drank tea at six ; and then , sir , no one ever found him in the evening parties of the rich or the noble : he was happy at home , and so he kept himself . Of all the members of the academy , the man Avhom I know least is Elaxman . ' In this " father Avas

way , my wont to observe , " Westmacott continued to talk to me about Elaxman . He answered all my questions directly and to the point . You will readily guess , " he Avould end by saying , and with a hearty laugh ( still pleasantly ringing in my ears ) " Westmacott ' s notion of the wants of biograph . I thanked him , .

y and withdreAV . I had obtained , unknown to Westmacott , the very information I wanted from him . When Chantrey was little or nothing more than a raw Derbyshire lad in London , working in clay , with slender prospects of translating his labours into marble , he Avent to the Royal Academy Exhibition ,