Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

I !' . do not hold ourselves responsible / , •>•ilr opinions oj our ( . " ' * - resvondeuts . All Letters must venr the name an' address of Ihe V . ' rite . ; not necessarily for publication , bv . t us a ( j < innin ! ce of . joodfiith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

PRE-UNI ON CIIAPLAT-. S OF THE GRAND LODGE OF ENGLAND .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CrtKoxic LE . DEAR SIR AND BKOTIIEU , —Several months ago 1 stated in your paper that tho Grand Lodgo of England had no Chaplain before 1313 . But before my article reached yon , I informed Bro . Sa Her that I had made a mistake , and gavo tho following reasons , which misled me . First , when I copied , some year .- * ago , the list of all tho Offic . : s

from 1717 to 1791 , from Northouck ' s Constitution , I found no Chaplain in tho said list . Second , several publications of 1762 and later distinctly state that tho Lodges subject to the Grand Lodge of 1717 nsed no prayers in thoir eerejnonies . Third , the Giand Lodge of Massachusetts had no Chaplain befrro 1797 , nnd I will hero add that the Edinburgh Lodgo had no Chaplain before 1798 . However ,

it is certain that tho G . L . of England appointed Dr . Dodd G . Chaplain in 1775 . Northonck even intimates that the Grand Lodge had a Chaplain before 1775 , bnt whether his statement is correct , I knownot . Perhaps Bro . Sadler , or some other brother , will be kind enough to inform yon about it . How often the Grand Lodge had a Chaplain after Dr . Dodd lost his office has never , I believe , appeared in

print . I have , therefore , copied from Northonck ' s Constitution of 1781 , and from tho printed Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of England , np to 12 th May 1813 , every Grand Lodgo meeting when a Chaplain attended . In order to simplify it , I shall give the year , the name of tho Chaplain , and tho number of times ho attended in each year . Dr . Dodd was appointed 1 st May 1775 , and up to 3 rd Juno

1776 . Dr . Dodd attended . . . 4 times 1781 . Dr . Sydney Sweeney attended . . 2 „ 1782 . Rev . William Peters G . P . P . * attended . 2 „ 1787 . Rev . H . A . Eccles attended . . 2 ., „ Rev . W . Peters G . P . P . attended . . 1 ,,

1789 . Eev V .. A . Eccles attended . . 1 „ 1790 . „ „ „ . . 1 „ W 91 . „ „ „ . . 1 „ 1792 . „ „ •. 3 ,. 1793 . ,, ,, ii , , _ , ,,

1794 . „ „ „ . . 1 „ 1795 . ,. „ . . 1 „ 1797 . „ „ ••1 ,. ivyj , JJ ) -, it . . - ,, 1800 . „ „ . . 2 „

1802 . Rev . Dr . Gogh Ian „ . . 2 „ 1803 . „ „ „ . . 2 „ 2804 . „ „ . . 3 „ 1805 . „ „ . . 4 „ 1806 . „ „ ,, . . 3 „

1807 . „ ,, ii . . 3 „ 1808 . „ „ . . 4 „ 1809 . „ „ . . 1 „ 1810 . Rev . Thomas Vialls P . G . M . for Radnorshire

attended . . 1 „ „ „ Coghlan „ . . 1 „ 1811 . „ ,, ,, . . 1 „ 1812 . „ „ . . 4 „ 1813 . „ „ „ up to 12 th May . 3 „

Sum total . . . . . 58 „ Assuming thafc between 1 st May 1775 and 12 th May 1813 the Grand Lodge beld only fonr meetings a year , then , during that period , it must have met at least 153 times . Oafc of the thirty-eig ht ; years , for

12 years the Grand Lodge had no Chaplain at all . For 9 years fche Chaplain attended bnt once a year . For 8 years the Chaplain attended bnfc twice a year . For 5 years the Chaplain attended but three times a year . And for 4 years fche Chaplain attended but four times a year .

Or , in other words , out of lo 3 meetings of the Graud Lodge between 1775 and 1813 , a Chaplain attended 58 times . I believe my figures are correct ; but , if not , I shall be obliged to Bro . Sadler if ho will correct me . I am very sorry that I cannot furnish similar information about the Grand Lodge of fche Ancients . But I hope either yourself , or Bro . Sadler , will take the trouble to supply it . Fraternally yours , JACOB NORTON .

Boston , U . S ., 11 th July 1884 . * Can any one inform me the meaning of " G . P . P . " ? [ We believe the initial letters mean Grand Portrait Painter . —ED . P . O . ]

The Hon . Sir J . Burford Hancock , Chief Justice of Gibraltar , has been appointed Provincial Grand Marl : Master of Gibraltar . He will be installed in his office in the course of next month .

The meetings of the Royal Alfred Lodge of Instruction , No . 780 , havo been adjourned , for the usual summer vacation , until Friday , 19 fch September .

Correspondence.

THE AUTHORSHIP OF "A DEFENCE 'OF MASONRY . PUBIfSMKO A . D . 1780 . "

Wo have great pleasure in reproducing the following interesting' communication from liro . R . Preke Gould Author of " The Four Old Lodges , " dec . & c . : —

To the Editor of the Keystone . DEAK Sn : ANP RKOTHEK , —I send you a few lines , trusting b y fche notice of , •' . mall puzzle in Masonic arclioology , to make some sli ght amend ;! for a protracted silence , which you * kindness in heaping favours upon me renders oven less excusable . The point I wish to refer to is the following : — " A Defence of Masonry " was printed , as

we know , with tho Constitutions of 1738 . Tin ' s , according to the tbtle or caption , was " pnbli . b'd A . D . 1730 . " Kow , has any brother seen ii copy of the " Def ' e-iee , " of earlier date than 1738 ? I have not , myself , though I have- examined tho newspapers of 1730 with some car ;* and attention . Next , who wrote it ? It is utterly unlike anything published by Anderson nnder his own name , and tho letter

from "Euclid , which follows it in the Constitutions , unless inserted for purposes of mystification , is quite inconsistent with the theory of the editor having written the essay . Euclid begins : — " Bro . Anderson , after thanks for printing tho clever DKFENCE " ( I follow fcho typographical arrangement of the original ) , and alluding to the " unbiassed author" says , " Tho'had ho been a Free-mason , " & c , & o .

T ' t-i ! Constitutions of 1738 were dedicated to Frederick Prince of Wales , who was initiated by Desaguliers in 1737 . The learned natural philosopher is also ono of the persons to whom the authorshi p of the pamphlet has been ascribed . But not to say that no pamphlet has yet como to light—afc least I believe not—is there a show of evidence forthcoming , which will show us anything linoivn to have

been written by Desaguliers , expressed in n , similar st yle , and famished wiih like references to the ancient learning ? Now , could the author have been Warburton ? He was one of the Prince ' s Ch . plains . The first volume of tho " Divine Legation , " whioh contains his examination of the sixth book of Virgil ' s " iEnoid , " was published in January 1737-8 . Here occurs our first difficulty . If

the " Defence " was really printed in 1730 , either Warburton wrote it , or he borrowed the ideas of somebody else , when ho composed his dissertation on the Mysteries ( 1737-8 ) . Bnt this is almost impossible . All the evidence tends to prove that in the view Warburton took of the purport of the sixth book of tho " JEne ' ui , " he was considered by the learned world to have struck out for himself an entirely new

path . The possibility of the " Defence " having been written after the publication of tho first volume of lithe " Divine Legation , " will next suggest itself , in which case the date , 1730 , must be read 1737 . The full title of tract , as given in tho " Constitutions , " is : "A Defence of Masonry . Published A . D . 1730 . Occasioned by a Pawphlet called Masonry Dissected . " And J think we may assume

that the words " pnblish'd A . D . 1730 . " refer really to Prichard ' s "Exposure , " and should properly terminate tbe sentence . Upon this supposition the " Defence " may have proceeded from the pea of Warburton , who , in a sermon printed in June 1738 , is described ns Chaplain to H . R . H . the Prince of Wales , whilst the " Constitutions , " as we learn from Anderson's preface , were nofc published until November - or , of course , bis ingenious hypothesis , as made known iu

the " Divine Legation , Book II ., Section IV ., may have been seized upon and adapted to tho purposes of the "Defence , " by an unknown hand . Regarding , as I do , tho authorship of the " Defence of Masonry , " as one of those subsidiary pnzzles encountered in Masonic investigation , which are worthy of examination by " curious readers , " I have ventured on the preceding remarks in tbe hope that the subject may be deemed worthy of more critical inquiry than the limits of a communication like the present will admit of . Yours fraternally , E . P . GOULD .

District Of Columbia.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA .

ON 11 th June , the Graud Chapter of the District of Columbia held a semi-annual Convocation . But little business was transacted . One important measure , however , was adopted , viz .: the following change was made in the Grand Constitution : "When a brother has been elected to receive the degrees , and an objection is entered against him , said objection shall be held to have the same effect as if a blackball had been cast against him , unless said objection shall be

withdrawn ; and if , after one or more of the degrees shall have been conferred upon him , and an objection shall be entered against bis further advancement , such objection shall be referred to a committee , with power to inquire into the cause thereof , who shall at tbe nexfc stated Convocation - ( unless further time be given ) report thereon ,

and upon the reception of such report , if no cause for the objection has been assigned , or if the cause assigned be iu the opinion of twothirds of the members present nofc a valid and Masonic ono , the Chapter may confer the degrees in the same manner as if no objection had been made . "

Tho Grand Lodgo of this District adopted a similar law in respect to objections made to the advancement of an Entered Apprentice or Follow Craft Mason . The reasons for this fow will bo found in the Report of tbe Committee on Jurisprudence of the Grand Lod . e ( in Annual Proceedings for 1883 , pp 30-38 ) , consisting of Past Graud Masters Robert B . Donaldson , E . G . Davis , ancl Noble D . Lamer ; based upon a

wenrecognised principle , that a Mason when mado and received within onr Fraternity is entitled to consideration , moro than a profane . H _ > has somo Masonic rights which are bound to be recognised by the Fraternity , ancl if any Mason has a valid objection to tbe advancemerit of a brother , he should havo no good reason for withholding it from a proper committee - who would , most assuredly , after proper invcafcigatiou aud u confirmation of such reasons , so report aud bo