The Antiquity Of Masonic Degrees.

thoug h no craftsman , see pp . 131 , 137 . Anderson interpolates 'if a brother ] see note , p . 150 . " "Iv " . The paraphrase ofthe Polychronicon , by the writer shows the desire of amplifying the text to adapt jt to his Masonic predilictions . Heraldry' has its jayths as well as Masonry , e . g . 'A Knight was made

before any cote armour , whereof Olibion was the firste that ever was . Asteriall , his father , came of the line 0 f that worthy gentleman Japeth , sawe the people niultiplie , having no govemours , and that the cursed people of Sem warred against them . Olibion being a mihty man aud strongethe le cried on him to

g , peop he their governour . A thousande men were then mustered of Japhet's lyne . Asteriall , made to his men . Olibion kneeled to Asteriall , his father , and asked his blessynge . Asteriall toke Japhetes fawchion , that Tubal made before the fludde , and smote , flatting nine timesupon the riht shoulder of Olibion of the

, g fore said preeiouse stones , with a charge to keepe the nine vertues of chivalry . ' " I may close this note by saying that the whole upshot is this , viz : —Masonry was an art and science and , like all other working bodies , had its apprentices and free members and also its peculiar

regulationsthat speculative Masonry implied merely an acquaintance with the science—that circumstances rendered it a convenient excuse for secret meetings , and that its professors have availed themselves of every source to throw a mystery around their ritual , and , to make it of as much importance as they can , they have got , as they think , their Romulus and Remus , and tell us some wonderful stories about them . " The Rev . A . A . then writes to me thus : — "I cannot

sufficiently thank you for taking such pains to answer the letters I forwarded you . . . . When Mr . B . B . has returned your letter I will send it back to you as a useful M . S . on the subject of which it treats . * The expression ' mystery , ' in my letter , merely stood for the confession of my own great ignorance on the subject of Freemasonry . You will probably have

sundry pages from the Rev . Mr . B . B . in reply . He is a clever man , living in an obscure place , and left very much to the society of his own thoughts and observations , which are by no means superficial . I have forwarded your letter to him , and have told him that I felt sure you would be glad to read any further remarks he might be disposed to make . " . . .

On New Year ' s Day I was favoured by A . A . with another twelve pages froni-B . B ., and in which he says— " Mr . Cooke's letter is quite characteristic , and confirms me in my opinions as to the borrowing by Masons , as now constituted , from every available

source . " I have in my possession a curious MS . One day , going into a carver and gilder's shop , at Shrewsbury , to look at a picture , the master of the shop asked me to look at the MS . ' I have shown it , ' said he , ' to Many clergymenand they can make nothing of it . '

, He allowed me to take it to my inn to examine . When I saw him again , I said , ' You are not a Mason ?' ' I am not , ' he replied ; but , I continued , ' the person who wrote this was a Mason . ' 'Yes , sir , he was . ' ' The MS . contains , evidently , the substance of a lecture

intended to be delivered in a lodge , and probably it would be published in THE FREEMASONS MAGAZINE . The mildness of the matter , mixed with many ingenious remarks , is exactly what one would expect from a young and very zealous Mason . ' " With respect to my errors , assuredly I have no

means of showing that they are not errors ; I can only say that I err in very good company . " 1 st . As to the 45 degrees of French Masonry ; this I get from the work of a very , very high mason . * So "far , however , it does not affect my position , viz-., that foreign lodges have many more degrees of

Masonry than the English . " 2 . As to the schism—that , says Mr . Cooke , is healed . Be it so . There was a schism ; and here , also , I have only hearsay , though Masonic , testimony . " 3 . What I meant by being a speculative musician was simply this—that , though no musician , I was acquainted , to a certain extent , with the

mathematical principles . Harmonic progression , certainly , will not explain naturals , sharps , and flats , & c . A certain number of vibrations in a given time satisfies the ear , and , therefore , as I have read , such number forms a natural note . A greater number of vibrations between A . and B . constitutes the sharp of A . and the flat of

B . That Mr . Cooke did not see this arose from his determined pre-conception of' speculative , ' as applied to Masonry . " The first distinct and unequivocal instance we have ( here again I rely on Masonic information ) of men who were not onilders being admitted as Free-masons

is the admission of Ashmole , in 1648 , into a lodge at Warrington , with his father-in-law , Colonel Mainwaring . These were accepted Masons . Ashnole was a ' speculative' before he was accepted , and , I suppose , after his admission , had he chosen to learn the practical part , would have been justly called a Freellason .

" The alphabets , as I have shown with regard to heraldry , were adopted by all fraternities who wished to keep anything to themselves , and some such a contrivance was practised by niediawal bishops , in their letters commendatory of clergymen , to prevent forgeries . These were ¦ called ' Eistolce Formula ?? see

p L'Abbe Cossart , Tom . viii ., Col . 1892 . Some of the letters in the JEpistolce were common to all ; others were peculiar to the epistle , and these formed the test . The Jceyed alphabets are of course , unintelligible without the key , which was formed thus : —

A . G . C . R . S . 17 . M . N . F . 0 . Q . B . D . H . E . V .

T . X . Z . I . K . L . P .

"Having ascertained the letters in the squares ,