Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The ' Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents , THE ORDERS OF TIIE BED CROSS OF ROME AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE . 10 THE EDITOR OH THE riiEEHASOITS' ITAGAZIXE AND MASONIC ItlliROn . Hear Sir and Brother , —I observe with satisfaction ,

not , however , unmingled with some surprise , that Lupus , in his anxiety to become the champion of King Victor Emmanuel , and to elevate the subject under discussion into the dignity of an international question , is apparently willing to concede all that we claim for the Anglican Order of Constantine as a chivalric institution in connexion ivith Freemasonry .

This , I apprehend , is an important admission , although it proves nothing beyond the fact that authorities differ upon these knotty points . Some time since , one of the oldest and most eminent members of the English branch , who was received iu 1837 , employed all his eloquencewhich is greatand his erudition

, , , which is profound , to induce the Council of England to seek an alliance with the Italian Order , under the Grand Mastership of the Ex-King of Naples , as a veritable offshoot of the original " Ordo Equestris , " and to eliminate all Masonic allusions from the

ceremonies . This advice was not followed simply because the members believed the alliance with such a dethroned potentate undesirable for more reasons than one . Now , on the other hand , Lupus desires us to discard the Comnenian succession , and adopt his theory that the Order originated in the Holy Land amongst the 27000 Masons who went out to the aid

, of the Crusaders . I shall have a few words to say upon this point in due time , but must first inquire upon what authority Lupus affirms that the Order was the private property of the Comneni—that the Grand Master " could dictate whatever laws he

thought proper ; " that he alone appointed the Grand Crosses ; and that he could " curtail or enlarge the privileges of the Kni ghts at his own pleasure . " Jn this instance , I fear that Lupus , for the sake of throwing a few additional shot into the enemy ' s entrenchments , has overloaded his guns , and is endangering his own position .

The Constitution of the Order was diametricall y opposed to the exercise of any arbitrary power by the Grand Master ; it was essentially aristocratic in its nature , and the Grand Crosses who composed the Council had the regulation of all the other members . The Council formed the first class , iu which the Grand Master himself was comprised , and in the event of the

decline or decay of the Order any surviving Knight ¦ of the Grand .. Cross had a right to receive members and to perpetuate the institution . The G . M . had no power to dictate laws , or to exceed his prerogative without the consent of the Council . The Constitution and Laws of the Anglican Order were based upon those promulgated by the Emperor Isaac Angelus

Comnenus in 1190 ; and , under date " 6 th June , 1811 , " I find in their minutes the following entry : — '" It was unanimously resolved that Sir Richard Jebb * be allowed to confer the dignity of the Grand Cross of the Order on two Noviciate Knights in India . " The fact is that Andrew Comnenus , the last

hereditary Grand Master , was involved in pecuniary difficulties when he " sold" the Order , and therefore gladly accepted the " consideration " offered by the Duke of Parma . It is also noteworthy that , as the Comneni were merely titular princes for nearly 300 years , the Order was not a " public " one , in the sense of being attached to a Kingdom or State until 1699 .

It would be a work of supererogation to prove that the Italian Order has undergone many changes since that period . In 1735 it was annexed to the Crown of Naples , and in 1 S 1 G the Ex-Empress Maria Louisa declared herself Grand Mistress of the Order as Duchess of Parma . Two distinct branches , therefore , existed in Italy up to a recent period .

Probably , the Emperor of the French may be considered the true head of the Italian Order , both as her representative and as the heir to Napoleon I . —a crowned King of Italy . Others maintain that the Ex-King Francis of Naples has an indefeasible claim , aud Lupus is ready to do battle for the " Re galantuomo . ' ' He is quite welcome to his opinion , as the

English Order has never boasted any connexion with the Parmese-Neapolitan institution . Lupus considers my comparison of the "Red Cross Order " with the Order of St . John " peculiarly unfortunate . " He will pardon me for saying , I believe it to be singularly apposite . It is well known that a Masonic Maltese Order existed before 1798 , when

the Order of Malta was as much a " public " Order as that of Constantine ; and it is also known that the Masonic Order has been revived within the past four or five years under the auspices of the Masonic Knights Templar . Where was " Lupus " then ? and why were the vials of his wrath unemptied upon the heads of the offending Grand Conclave ? as it is

indisputable that several branches of the original Order still exist—two being actually under the protection of " friendly foreign powers ! " to say nothing of the Anglican body under His Grace . the Duke of Manchester . I pass over Lupus ' s delight at finding that the " appropriation of the Cross now worn iu the Priestly

Order'' was made by the Committee of 1813 , as by referring to my remarks in No . 499 of the Magazine , it will be found that he labours under a misconception , and doubtless the Cross was worn by members of the English branch for years before that date . My admission of the English branch , having regard

to its connexion with Freemasonry being " in much the same category as the Order of the Temple , & c , " is by no means depreciatory of those chivalric institutions , but simply to suggest the inference that the history of all those Orders as Masonic organizations in England during the first half of the 18 th century is involved in very considerable obscurity . Lupus has , however , performed a service to the Red Cross Order in admitting that it is not "new "—the most odious

term that can be applied to anything purporting to be Masonic—and he will confer an additional favour if he will state explicitly what other Red Cross Order has for " many years " been known in certain provinces , if it be not the Eed Cross of Constantine . The emblems of the Manchester Certificates would appear to be conclusive evidence on this point . Does Lupus seriously believe that a brother like 'Waller Rodwell Wright , who was at once a gentleman , a scholar , and a Christian , would introduce a Prince of