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LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY . EASTERITOLI DAYS . ON THURSDAY , 7 th APRIL , SPECIAL EXPRESS TRAINS for Birmingham will leave Euston at 2 " 55 p . m . and -V 20 p . m ., calling at Willesden , Rugby , and Coventry only , and arriving at Birmingham ( Now Street ) at 5-35 p . m . and 6 55 p . m . respectively . The 12-0 midnight train from Euston wiil bo extended from Warrington to Preston on Good Friday morning . On Good Fridiy , 8 th April , tho 5 M 5 a . m . Newspaper Express from London ( Kuston Station ) will run to Northampton , Birmingham , Shrewsbury , Warrington , Liverpool , Manchester , Preston , Blackpool , Lancaster , Windermere , Carlisle , Edinburgh , Glasgow , Ferth , and Aberdeen , but will havo no connection to Chester . On Friday night and Saturday morning , 8 th and 9 th April , tho 11 * 11 p . m . and 12 o a . m . trains from Carlisle will run as usual . The 12 - 10 a . m . Holyhead to Crewe , 4 ' 30 a . m . Holyhead to Chester , and 250 a . m . Chester to Liverpool will not bo run on Saturday morning , there being no boats from North Wall or Greenoro on tho evening of Good Friday . Passengers for Belfast ( via Lame ) and the North of Ireland will leave Euston by the 8 50 p . m . train on Friday night . Othor trains on Good Friday will run as on Sunday , with the exception of the 10 AO a . m . Crowo to Holyhead , 11 MO a . m . Holyhead to Crewe , and 10 * 10 p . m . from Edinburgh , and 10 - 5 p . m . from Glasgow ( leaving Carlisle at Plo a . m . on Saturday , 9 th April ) , to Liverpool and Manchester , which will not run . For further particulars soo special notices issued by G . FINDLAY , General Manager . Euston Station , March 1887 .

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GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY . EASTER HOLIDAYS . ON GOOD FRIDAY , SATURDAY , EASTER SUNDAY , and MONDAY , CHEAP THIRD CLASS EXCURSION TICKETS , available on day of issue only , will be issued by certain trains from PADDINGTON , Kensington ( Addison Road ) , TTxbridge Road , Hammersmith , Shepherd ' s Bush , Latimer Road , N tting Hill , Royal Oak , and Westbourno Park ; and from certain stations on the Metropolitan and District Railways , to the following stations at the fares shown : — "Windsor ... ... 2 s 6 d I Bourne End ... - j Taplow ... ... \ o „ ( ., -, I Great Mariow ... fo « . Rr 1 Maidenhead ... ... / d 3 Utl | Shiplake f " 53 bcl Cookham ... ... 3 s 6 d | Henley ... ... J CHEAP SATURDAY to MONDAY TICKETS are also issued , from PADDINGTON and other stations to Windsor , Taplow , Maidenhead , Cookham , Bourne End , Great Harlow , Shiplake , and Henley . On GOOD FRIDAY the trains on the Great Western Railway will run as on Sundays , with a few exceptions . For particulars see special Bills . J . GRIERSON , General Manager .

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The Henry Bell Letter Of 1754.

THE HENRY BELL LETTER OF 1754 .

JUDGING from the immense value placed upon this celebrated letter by some of our fellow-labourers in the Masonic Historical Quarries ' , it would seem as if the priority of Freemasonry in the City of Philadelphia were grounded solely on this letter , written from Lancaster in November 1754 .

If this letter were in the possession of the Grand Lodge Library , we venture to say that its great value would be considered to have much deteriorated . We have a strong and abiding faith iu what we have written , for we know the full meaning and intent thereof . Now to the history

of the letter , which is now for the first time given to the Masonic Fraternity . _ In tbe year 1873 , when the Craft were preparing for the dedication of the new Masonic Temple , Broad and Filbert-streets , one day , desiring to make some examinations for the Grand Lod ge Library ,

I went into Bro . John Thomson ' s , the then Grand Secretary ' s office , where I found Bro . Francis Blackburne , one of tho clerks , at hia desk , As I entered the office a gentleman was just going out . Bro . Blackburne called me to his desk and handed me a copy of a letter he had

just made from the original , in the possession of the party who had just left the office . The ink was scarcely dry . The copy read as follows , Bro . Blackburne only copying the Masonic portion . It was dated 17 th November 1751 : —

"As you well know , I was one of the originators of the first Masonic Lodge in Philadel phia . A party of us used to meet at the Tnn Tavern in Water Street , and sometimes opened a Lodge there . Once , iu the fall of 1730 , we formed a design of obtaining a Charter

ior a regular Lodge , and made application to the Grand Lodge of England for one , but before receiving it , we heard that Daniel Coxe , of New Jersey , had been appointed by that Grand Lodge as Provincial Grand Master of New York , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania . Wo therefore , made application to him , and our request was granted . "

-the letter was signed by Henry Bell , and was dated from Lancaster aud addressed to Dr . Thomas Cadwallader , Philadelphia . ' _ It is a comparatively easy matter to prepare a document , and give 't the marks of antiquity by using paper bearing the water-marks of

years past . Bro . Jacob Norton , of Boston , is quite an expert in the detection of cnch matters , for it was he who exposed the unsatisfactory condition of tho earliest Minutes of the Graud Lodge of Massachusetts , showing conclusivel y that tho papjr usodiu tho Minute-book , purportin" to bo

The Henry Bell Letter Of 1754.

original , was manufactured some yeara after the first Minutes were written thereon . Bro . Norton has written me many time 3 to get thia old " Bell Letter , " and so has Bro . Hughan . I have used my best endeavours to oblige them , but was not successful up to the time of Bro .

Blackburne's death . As Chairman of the Library Committee I offered him one hundred dollars to get the letter long enough to examine it , and photograph it ; but he told me that the gentleman who had it was of a mysterious turn of mind , and when he found that inquiries were made about it , he positively refused to part with it ,

or allow another copy to be made of it , alleging that it wa 3 of great value , and the price would have to be very high that would induce him to part with it . We know , however , that the gentleman was a relative of the Cadwallader family , and that he is since deceased . If I remember

correctly , his name was Bancker , and he at the time lived on the North side of Chestnut , below Fifth Street . I have written to ft . W . Bro . Kobert A . Lamberfon , Grand Master at that time , and who made the address at the dedication of the new-Temple , and who used this Bell letter in his remarks , if he has any

further information on the subject . He has promised to examine his papers , filed away , and let me know further . And now the letter stands plain and distinct as a strong link in a chain of circumstantial evidence . A much weaker one has sent many a prisoner to the gallows .

Let ua examine the letter critically as to its truth , and also as to how much of it has corroborative evidence to back it . The writer was oue Henry Bell , and he resided in Philadelphia in 1730 . He speaks of the attempt made in 1730 to form a regular Lodge afc that time , and that they were in the habit of

meeting at the Tun Tavern on Water street . That there were Masons here in 1730 is corroborated by the Pennsylvania Gazette , No . 108 , 3 rd December 1730 , printed by Benjamin Franklin , and he says : " As there are several Lodges of Freemasons erected in this Province , " & c . Again , the Coxe

deputation recites , under the seal ofthe Grand Lodge of England , 5 th June 1730 , that the application was made by Bro . Daniel Coxe , of New Jersey , and several other brethren , Free and Accepted Masons , residing and about to reside in New York , New Jersey and Pennsylvania , & o .

These were not clandestine Masons , but regular and duly acknowledged under the seal of Grand Lodge , as we have stated above . This should satisfy tho most dubious that there were Masons in 1730 in Philadelphia . Now , where was Henry Bell in 1754 , at the time of writing this ? The tax lists of Derry township , Lancaster

county , Pa ., bear the name of Henry Bell , as a resident there from 1750 to 1759 . This should satisfy even Bro . Norton that Henry Bell was not a myth . Bro . Bell writes to one Dr . Thomas Cadwallader , who was an

eminent physician , son of John Cadwallader , and ho was born m Philadelphia in 1707 . Ho died 14 th November 1779 , aged 72 year 3 . Was he a Mason ? Yes , in 1730 he would havo been 23 yeara old , and in 1738 he was appointed oue of tho Grand Wardens of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons . See Pennsylvania Gazette ,

6 th July 1738 . Now Cadwallader cannot be claimed as a myth . Where did these Masons meet in Philadelphia in 1730 ? Why at tho Tun Tavern , where they afterwards held their Sfc . John ' s Day festivals and elections , commencing in 1732 , as the printed evidence of Franklin shows .

Ifc might be asked , — Why was not an aunual election held on St . John ' s Day , in 1731 ? Wo will answer , —Because the Coxe deputation was for the space of two years , from 5 th June 1736 , which also required that they should annually dine together on St . John ' s Day .

In strict conformity with these instructions on St . John s Day , in June 1732 , the first election was held . There is also an important matter that bears out the rights of this Lodge in Philadelphia , it reads : He , tho said Daniel Coxe , and the Provincial Grand Master , Deputy Grand Master and Grand Wardens

for the time being . This is an additional continuing clause , which is not found in the Price Deputation . There is also this important fact , that there is no record in the Grand Lodge of England's archives of the deputation said to be issued to Henry Price , while there is on record there the copy of the Coxe deputation .

We remember years ago that no one did more to destroy the claims of Massachusetts to Masonic priority than Bro . Norton , and it was from his writings that my attention was first called so forcibly to the investigation of the neglected history of tho Graud Lodge of Pennsylvania .

Tho Masonic Fraternity of Pennsylvania are under obligations to Bro . Jacob Norton for making so many of us searchers after the true history of Freemasonry in America , and now that ho finds that every day we are strengthening our foundations and buildings , he be » ins to attack the hoase that he himself has helped to erect .

We expect ere long to be in possession of the furniture and jewels of thiti Lodge of 1730 . We have heard hints of their being still in existence . The letter of Bro . Norton to the Loudon Freemason is the cause of this long article in reply . CHARLES E . MEYER . — Keystone .

HOT . T . OWAV s PILLS . —Important to the delicate . —Ifc is difficult to determine winch is tlic more trying to the human constitution , tho damp , cold days of winter , or the , keen , ' dry , easterly winds of spring . Throughout tho seasons good health may be maintained by occasional doses of Hollo . vay ' s Pills , which purifv the blood and act as wholesome stimulaAs to tho skin , stomach , liver ,

! i nvels , and kidneys . This celebrated medicine needs but a fair trial to convince the jiilintr and desponding that it will restore and cheer fchetu , without danger , pain , or inconvenience . No family should be without a supply of Holloway ' s Pills and Ointment , as by a timely recourse to them the first erring function may be reclaimed , suffering may be spared , and life . .-. aved .