The English Rite Of Freemasonry.*

Masters thafc were not known to Apprentices , since members of the latter grade were necessary to the legal constitution of communications for the admission of Masters and Fellows , ' and points out further that ' if the communication by Mason Lodges of secret words or signs

constituted a degree , then thero was , under the purely Operative regime , only one known to Scotch Lodges—viz ., that in which , under an oath , apprentices obtained a knowledge of tho Mason word and all that was implied in the expression ; and that this was the germ whence has sprung

Symbolical Masonry is rendered more than probable by the traces which have been left upon the more ancient of our Lodge records ( especially those of Mary ' s Chapol ) , of the gradual introduction during the seventeenth and first

quarter of the eighteenth century of that element in Lodge membership which at first modified and afterwards annihilated the original constitution of these ancient courts of Operative Masonry . "

The late Dr . Mackay is then referred to as a supporter of Bro . Hughan ' s theory , he having remarked to the effect that " in 1717 there was evidently but one degree , or rather one form of initiation , and one catechism Division of the Masonic system into three degrees must have grown

up between 1717 and 1730 . " Dro . Hughan not unnaturally comments on Mackay having post-dated rather than predated the completion of the three degrees , on the ground that the Book of Constitutions of 1723 clearly refers to a ceremony on the admission of Masters and Fellow-Craft ,

and then quotes him again as having laid it down in his " Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry" that " it is now the opinion of the best scholars that the division of the Masonic system into degrees was the work of the revivalists of the beginning of the eighteenth century .... Perhaps

about 1721 the three degrees were introduced , but the second and third were nofc perfected for many years . He who was an Apprentice was for all practical purposes a Freemason . " And again the same author is quoted "Documentary evidence is yet wanting to settle the

precise time of the composition of the third degree as we now have it , but it would not be prudent to oppose too positively the theory thafc ifc must be traced to the second

decade of the eighteenth century . The proofs , as they arise day by day from the resurrection of old manuscripts , seem to incline that way . But the legend I think is of much older date . "

Thus far , we see that Gould and Lyon are in harmony with Hughan in essentials . We are next introduced to the opinions of Bro . Rev . A . F . A . Woodward , who takes a somewhat different view , and as it will be difficult for us

to show the points of difference in the present paper , we must defer giving evidence of this difference till next week , when we shall have more space at our command for the purpose . ( To be continued . )

Freemasonry In Spain.

FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN .

( Continued from page 139 . ) THE resumption by Bro . Magnan of his position of Grand Commander , on the dismissal of Zorrilla , was not regarded as legal by all the Spanish brethren , the majority of them being of opinion that , as Zorrilla had been

elected after the deposition of Magnan , it was fcheir duty to elect a successor to him , tbe deposed brother having no right to resume any position of authority of whatever rank it might be . Hence General La Somera was chosen Grand

Commander in succession to Zorrilla by those members of the Craft who had approved the Masonic rule of Amadeus of Savoy ' s prime minister . In a year ' s time Bro . La Somera resigned in favour of Sagasta , afc the time ranking as 18

degrees , and afterwards prime minister of Alphonso XII ., who , in his turn , was succeeded by Bro . Romero Ortiz , Governor of the Bank of Spain , who died at the beginning of the

present year , while still chief of fche Grand Orient of Spain , to which must be attached the distinctive title of " Secondary . "

Let us , however , resume the main thread of our exposition , so that we may place before our readers , in as clear a light as possible , the actual state of the growing edifice

of Spanish Freemasonry . According to the Morin-Dalcho system , or to speak traditionally , in accordance with the terms of the Constitution of 1786 , whenever a Sovereign

Freemasonry In Spain.

Grand Commander laid down the ensigns of hia authorit y , a successor mnst be elected . This being so , it is Bro ! Romero Ortiz and his lecally-elected successors who represent the direct and unbroken succession of the second Supreme Council of Spain , established by the Count de

Grasso-Tilly in 1811 , which had absorbed the Council founded in 1808 by the Count de Tilly , brother in blood to the Count de Grasse-Tilly . In other words , it is the Grand Orient of Spain to which we havo attached the titular distinction of " Secondary , " which can boast of a legality

in accordance with the Constitution of 178 G . On the other hand , if we reject the intervention of tho Masonic People in the High Grades , and Freemasonry is tho appanage of a numerous proprietary body , then Bro . Panzano and his " Primary " G . Orient of Spain are the depositories of the

true right thus interpreted . If we go further , and attach to the High Grades both the authority and the right to interpret all Masonic laws in their own sense , it is the National Grand Orient we must turn to , seeing that ifc possesses a Constitution which , in its 17 th article , entrusts

the interpretation of Masonic doctrine to the Grand Commander personally . Again Spanish Freemasonry , which is nothing if ifc does nofc possess creative powers , presents a number of Masonic ensembles constituted in view of sundry more

pronounced objectives . For instance , if we are of opinion that Freemasonry is the grouping together of Masons in order to achieve some material result , we turn to Seville , where is the independent Spanish Symbolic Grand Lod ge which holds that the independence of Cuba sanctions its

installing itself at Havanna . If we hold that Masonry calls itself universal because ifc gives to all Masons alike the universal right to offer to the world a Masonry of its own , then Spain introduces us to a group of independent Lodges headed by the Lodge " Progreso , " whose Master

is Senator Felix Alphonso , and whose orator fche former Minister Moret , by the mouth of the former of whom it was announced on the day of his installation— " We instal

ourselves , because we are Universal Masonry and have our Chapters , Areopagi , & c Hereafter it will be seen what we have . " This Lodge Progreso on the day of installation mustered about a score of Master Masons . One

might almost fancy Joseph Balsamo had returned to life . Be this as it may , the result of our careful examination of Freemasonry in Spain during the 156 years of its existence places us in possession of the following facts : Elective legality , as represented by the Spanish G . Orient of

Sagasta , Romero Ortiz , and successors , musters 320 Lodges , 40 Chapters , and 15 , 000 members . Legality according to the right of uti possidetis finds a home in the Spanish G . Orient of Carvajal-Panzano , with 12 Lodges , all having Chapters , Areopagi , & o . attached to them . Legality by

the right of interpretation is represented by the National G . Orient of Spain , with 60 Lodges , 10 Chapters , a Supreme Council , a Grand Council of Rites , a Sovereign G . Lodge , a Masonic Diet , a Supreme Grand Consultative Council attached , a Consistory of Princes of the Royal

Secret , & c , & c . The Joseph Balsamo system can boast of 3 Lodges , which are everything in themselves , and whose members must be designated in all their letters Universal Masons . As to the questionably legal independent symbolic G . Lodge at Seville , it can boast of only 10 Lodges within its jurisdiction .

Having thus described the various bodies in Spain , and added a summary of the Lodges and members owing allegiance to each , the article in Le Monde Maconnique is continued pretty much in the following terms : — Spanish . Freemasonry will become a force , an element in

liberalism which it will be necessary to take into account , when the spread of Masonic enlightenment shall have rendered impossible the existence in Spain of Masons by possession , by interpretation , or as the outcome of a joke or mystery . This consummation cannot be postponed . If

Acquaviva , General of the Jesuits , could reply to Pope Clement XIV . who pressed him to re-organise in a less pronounced form the Society of which he was fche chief , " My Jesuits will be as they are or not at all , " the true

Mason , the man who has entirely devoted himself to Liberty and Fraternity , knows perfectly well that Freemasonry mnst be great or cease to exist ; and that the latter contingency is out of the question , as Freemasonry is destined to become the greatest of human institutions .

Spanish Freemasonry will be modified , and it was an error on the part of Alphonso XII ., who was made Master at Frankfort by " our Frederick " in 1883 , to follow the