Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

All Letters must bear the name anl address of the Writer , ant necessarib / for publication , but as a guarantee of gnod faith . We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions ' ¦>!*»* Cor . respvidents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .

FREEMASONRY IN PHILADELPHIA .

To the Editor of the FREEMASONS Cnuoxicr . K . DEAR SfR AND BROTHER , —T havo been favoured with a letter from Bro . Jacob Norton , in which ho very kindly encloses transcript of one of the many so-called exposures of Masonry whiohhave , from time to time , been published . This particular exposure appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette , 8 th December 1730 , and the introduction gives one

tho idea that the body of the document must be one and tbe same with that which was described some time last year by Bro . A . in the columns of your contemporary the Freemason . It reads thus : — " By the death of a gentleman who was one of the Brotherhood of Free-masons , thero has lately happened a discovery of abundance of their secret signes ancl wonders with tho mystic fraternity . Tho

following is a true copy of a manuscript which tho docoasod had written for the benefit of his own private remembrance , aud whioh was found concealed among his choicest papers in the most hidden part of his cabinet . The world had long admired that in such numerous company , many of them not remarkable for taciturnity , there had been not one found that in his cups or iu any other circumstance

would discover their mysteries ; but tho whole appears so childish and ridiculous that this is probably the case , —their grancl secret is , that they have no secret at all ; and once a man is enter'd , he finds himself obliged to be its defender to carry on tho jest with as solemn a face as the rest . We shall nofc use many words to persuade the public that the following piece is genuine ; it carries all the marks

of truth in itself . We would only refer the reader to the conduct of the Brotherhood npon occasions ; if they ridicule it , or look grave npon it , he may be satisfied ifc is the real truth . " Bro . Norton writes , " The above is a transcript of Franklin ' s introduction to tbe document discovered " by Bro . A . " in the Guildhall Library , and on comparing with the preface in the original you must

become convinced that Franklin was not a Mason in December 1730 . I hope , therefore , that Bro . PHJIADELPHOS will do me justice by acknowledging publicly that when all things are taken into consideration , there is not a particle of evidence in existence to prove tho legality of Pennnsylvanian Masonry before 1749 . "

I am sure Bro . Norton will give me credit for not being so bigoted to my own opinions as to refuse to accept anything in the shape of evidence , even though it should go towards negatising tbe views I take . But will Bro . Norton have the kindness to point out how the fact of Franklin not being a Mason in December 1730 destroys " the legality of Pennsylvanian Masonry before 1749 ? " Does it

disprove—( 1 ) The authenticity of the Coxe Deputation in 1730 ; ( 2 ) That Coxe was present in the Grand Lodge , London , in 1731 , aud was described as Prov . G . Master of North America ; ( 3 ) The accuracy of the announcement in the Pennsylvania Gazette , of 1732 , as to the meeting of brethren in Philadelphia on

one or more occasions in that year . It is very possible , and , I am willing to add , very far from being improbable , that Franklin was not a Mason when he sanctioned the publication , in his own paper , of the exposure to which the above note was meant as an introduction ; but , speaking for the moment from memory , I believe he was said , according * to the very same

Pennsylvania Gazette , to havo been appointed S . W . in January 1732 . Moreover , on the samo assumption as before , that Franklin was not a Mason in December 1730 , the very same number of the said gazette in which the exposure appeared contained notices thafc certain Lodges occasionally met in Philadelphia in 1730 . There is , too , the further probability thafc it was because there were

Masonio meetings in that year in Philadelphia that Franklin allowed tbe publication of the exposure—if he were not a Mason—for the pnrpose of holding it up to ridicule ; or , if he were a Mason , to direct the natural curiosity of the Philadelphia public into a wrong channel . The public and the Masons must have

enjoyed the joke hugely , and no one of the former could have been a bit the wiser in reality . I must also ask Bro . Norton to concede thus much . Franklin , we will say , nofc being a Mason in December 1730 , sanctioned the publication of this burlesque on Masonry . Wonld he have sanctioned the announcement in June 1732 of his

appointment as Senior Warden had he not been a Mason and so appointed . There is necessarily much obscurity about the early doings of Freemasonry everywhere , but before I can reject Pennsylvanian Freemasonry before 1749 , I must have some further evidence than the not unlikely argument that Franklin when he published this Masonic Burlesque in December 1730 was not a Mason . Fraternally yonrs , PHILADKIPHOS . London , 7 th May 1881 .

A Mysterious Murder.

A MYSTERIOUS MURDER .

FROM THB MASONIC REVIEW , APRIL 1881 . 'TiHE Daily Press contains the following account of a singular •* - murder in Iowa , which may or may not have some connection With the Morgan affair : The mysterious murder in Iowa of a son of Judge Gillis—so well

A Mysterious Murder.

known to many Philadolphians ancl Pennsylvanians—bring * to mind recollections of a once famous character , and of tho famoui anti-Masonic excitement , and even gives colour to the suspicion that tho death of Morgan is being avenged r-von at this lato day . As far back as 1820 tho attention of Philadelphia capitalists was drawn to tho great lumber regions of tho north-western part of tho

State , and ammig tho number was John J . Ridgway , a loading banker of this city . They purchased largo tracts of laud in what is now Elk county , and held them for many years . Afc this day Elk county borders on the oil regions , produces largo quantities of lumber and coal , contains the largest tanneries in tho world , tho biggest trout and tho most deer and game east of tho Rocky Mountains .

Philadelphia capital is still largely interested in tho products of the county and in tho development of its natural resources Philadolphians havo made much money . As far back as 1823 , when tho whole section of tho country was an empire of woodland , it sometimes happened that Philadelphia gentlemen spent the summer in travelling over their estates in the backwoods . On theso occasions thoy mot a

typical frontiersman , who went with thom on fishing and hunting excursions . He was an energetic , pushingyonng fellow of thirty-five , quito well to do in the world , a tanner by trade , and a soldier of the war of 1812 , who had suffered in British prisons . He had lived in Western New York and Pennsylvania , knew every foot of ground in the tremendous expanse of forest , ancl was a shrewd intelligent man . His

namo was James L . Gillis , and ho afterward became a County Judge , a member of tho House and Senate at Ilarrisburg , and finally a member of Congress . In tho last generation he was as well known as any man in tho State , and ho had friends in every parfc of tho Onion . After serving in Congress , and acting for two years as Indian Agent for the Pawnee Tribe , Judge Gillis removed to Mfc Pleasant ,

Iowa , whore he now resides , nearly one hundred years old . In 1826 William Morgan was a good for nothing tailor in tho town of Eatavia , Western Now York . He had belonged to the Order of Freemasons , and it became known that , with the assistance of a country editor , ho was preparing an expose of tho secrets of the Order . Morgan suddenly disappeared , and it was said was drowned in Lako

Ontario . The people of this day can havo bnt little idea of tho excitment this case caused . There was almost a rebellion in New York , ancl the affair gave rise to the formation of the anti-Masonic party , which polled 33 , 000 votes in New York State in 1828 , 70 , 000 votes in 1829 , and 128 , 000 in 1830 . The Presidential candidate of tho party carried Vermont in 1832 , and defeated the Clay ticket in Ohio

and New Jersey . In this State the party almost elected David Ritner Governor in 1832 , and did elect him in 1835 . At the time of the Morgan excitement James L . Gillis was a prominent Freemason in Western New York , and , with others , was charged with the murder of Morgan . Ho was tried for the crime but was acquitted . Judge Gillis had almost forgotten tho prominence thafc was given

him in the Morgan matter , when a few years ago one of his sons , Ridgway Gillis , was called to tho door of his father ' s Iowa residence and assassinated . No clue conld bo fonnd to the perpetrator of the deed , nor could any reason whatever bo given for its commission , and ifc has ever since remained an unfathomable mystery . Now an exactly similar fate has met Judge Gillis' other son , Charles . One evening

last week father and son wero seated m the parlour of their Mfc Pleasant home , when a low knock was heard at the door . Charles Gillis got up and opened the door . The Judgo heard a few words of low conversation , and then a ringing pistol shot , a cry of pain from his son , and a heavy fall . Sick and trembling , Judge Gillis rose fco his

feet , and staggering into the hall , saw his son lying bleeding on the floor , shot throngh the heart . He cried for help , aud thafc moment his son ' s wife , who had been out a few minutes on au errand , ran into the house and stumbled over the dead body of her husband . The assassin was gone , ancl there is little possibility of discovering him .

The murdered man was nofc known to have any enemies . As in his brother ' s case , there was no apparent motive for tho crime , and the murderer did his work with the same deadly certainty and escaped . There must have been some terrible incentive for these two brutal murders , and many of Judge Gillis' friends in the East

firmly believe the tragedies have a connection with the celebrated Morgan murder or abduction of fifty-five years ago . Many believe the friends of Morgan are visiting vengeance on the head of the venerable Judge Gillis , half a century after his supposed connection with that affair , by murdering bis sons .

Ad01103

FREEMAN'S CHLORODYNE . Tlie Oi-isiiinl and only trnc . j & SfflSjjMfr TTTJNDREDS of Medical Practitioners testify to nr < E « PH - * - * its marvellous efficacy in immediately relieving' anil \* ffi ; a , ' ^ i *& £ *? rallirt ' y curing Coughs , Colds , Asthma , Bronchitis , Nenral-< BF * 33 ? t 9 Ki " . Spasms , Colic , Whooping Cough , antl all Nerve Pains , ^ al 1 » U' BD * ' ncts *' ko a cbarm in Diarrhoea , and is tho only specific in ® a * ^® S 5 * - ' * * Cholera and Dysentery . It rapidly relieves pain , from what-Tfej ' nc MARK evor c ! luse , soothes and strengthens the system under exhausting diseases , and gives quiet and refreshing sleep . Lord Chancellor Selborne , Lord Justice . Tames . Lord Justice Hellish decided in favour of FREEMAN'S ORIGINAL CHLORODYNE , and against Brown and Davenport , compelling them to pay all costs in tlie suits . See Times of July 24 th , 1873 . Bottles Is 1-Jcl , 2 s 9 d , 4 s 6 d , ' lls , and 20 s . Sold by all Chemists . TEST 1 MOJHAT . S . —Head Quarter Staff , Cabul , May 31 st , 1880 . Mr . R . Freeman , Dear Sir , —It is with rmi'h pleasure I am able to state that yonr Ohlorodyne has been of special service to me in alleviating the wearisome spasms of Asthma , which is here existent in an aggravated form . Many of my patients now come and beg me to give them that medicine which always relieves them , and which I need hardly say is yonr Chlorodyne . Yours faithfully , CHARLES W . OWKS , L . E . C . P . Lon ., M . R . C . S . Eng ., the Divisional Head Quarter Staff and Civil Surgeon , Cabul . The Times , August 13 . h , 187 " . Prom our own Correspondent with the Russian Army . Okoum , July 25 th , 1 S 77 . The want of sanitary arrangements in the Russian Camp was ilivadnil , nnd bad we remained there a few weeks ! onger , dysentery and typhoid fever woifld have played more havoc in onr ranks than tho bombs of the Turks . I mvse'f nennired an unenviable reputation as a doctor , owing to my being provided >* . ith a small bottle of CHIiOBOD YNE , with which I effected miraculous cures .