Correspondence.

published afc Frankfort in 1748 . Now , as you aro aware , tho authenticity of this MS . is rejected , the fact of Leland having ever seen a copy of it is doubted , and the statement of its publication at Frankfort in 1748 is denied . Tho week following the appearance of your article , yonr contemporary published a leader bearing the title I havo given to this letter , " Tho Perpetuation of Masonic Error . " In

it the Masonic scribe , whoever he may have been , took yon roundly to task for your exceeding simplicity in attaching any value whatever to this unfortunate MS . and its history , real or fictitious , as the case may bo . Your contemporary observed that the " averment , " that the date of tho MS . in question was practically 1445 , " on the part of a Masonic Avriter in 187 G , " was , " as Talleyrand said of a mistake ,

' worse than a crime . It Avas " an insult practically to tho critical studies of our period , " ifc Avas " in itself absolutely incorrect and unhistorical from beginning to end , " and demonstrated that your " Masonic scribe , Avhoevor he may be , " had " not mastered the first rudiments of Masonic archaeology . " It proceeded : " In Germany such a remarkable assertion will bo simply laughed at . Indeed , we

havo never seen moro errors in a short statement . Now I havo no intention of entering the lists against you or your contemporary . I may remark , however , there is no very violent improbability , and nothing that outrages common sense , in the averment that Henry VI . signed the MS ., that Leland saw a copy of it , and that it Avas recopied and published in 1748 at Frankfort . All

this may never havo taken place , and your assertions may be Avorthy of the ridicule so plentifully heaped npon them . This , however , concerns me not at this moment . I read your leader and your contemporary ' s , and if I am not sufficiently bewildered between the pair of you , it is my misfortune , perhaps , but certainly not my fault . Judge , however , of my surprise , when I read , a few days back , in the

columns of yonr contemporary , tho following statement , apropos of a part of Bro . Havers ' s motion . " St . Alban is , in all our legends , identi - fied inseparably Avith the first effort of our operative Order , and all our later Masonic MSS ., from tho 16 th century at any rate , mention St . Alban and tho provincial Verulamium . " If your " averment " about tho MS . referred to ivas worthy of so severe a condemnation .

what shall be said of your contemporary s " averment about the inseparable identification of St . Alban " Aviththe first effort of our operative Order . " I imagine " tho first effort of onr operative Order " must havo been the erection of a mud-cabin or some similar protection against the weather . Tho first effort I have read about is the city that Avas built by Cain's son Enoch , as mentioned in an early

chapter of Genesis . Bnt this happened before the Deluge , ancl I think St . Alban can have had nothing to clo Avith that : there is no evidence , at least , that ho had . The Tower of Babel is a later effort of the operative Masons , but even that Avas built considerably over two thousand years before tho Christian era , Avhereas St . Alban flourished towards the end of tho third century after it . A still later effort of

tho operative Mason was the building of King Solomon ' s Temple , but I Avas not aAvaro that the Avise King of Israel and onr British proto-martyr to Christianity Avere contemporaries . If I confine my attention to Britain , I find among the earliest efforts of our operative Order the erection of a chain of forts by Agricola , to keep in check tho northern barbarians , then the building of Adrian ' s Avail , and then

came that of Sevcrus , bnt all these were anterior to St . Alban ' s time . If 1 narrow tho circle of my inquiries to St . Alban himself , I am abio to learn that he lived in the reign of Diocletian , and that ho was put to death for his attachment to Christianity , but tho year of his death is variously stated . As regards the Abbey which bears his name , that Avas built in Saxon times , a few centuries after his martyrdom ,

I presume , by operative Masons , but I see nothing in that to identify St . Alban with " our operative Order . " I wish I could . A few such interesting fables might be worked up into a very readable volume , and would create almost as much excitement in onr nurseries as ever did tho stories of Mothers Hubbard and Goose . But " all our later MS ., from the l ( 5 th century at any rate , mention

St . Alban and Verulamium . " Now thou , we read , " That great and intercsting cathedral contains mementoes both of Alban and Amphibalas , and no history of our operative forefathers can be complete without recognition of the early connection of Alban with the operative guilds . " It comes to this , then . Alban is mentioned in a number of MSS . of comparatively recent origin , and having a greater or

less value . Therefore , no histoiy , & e . is complete without mention of his connection Avith tho operative guilds . No histoiy of Some is held to bo complete which omits the story of Romulus and Senilis being suckled by a wolf , but no sane man believes the story , and certainly no sane man now-a-days would dream of presenting £ 1 , 000 to the shrine of Mars merely because histoiy recorded such au

absurdity . Centuries hence people may be erecting monuments to the sea-serpent , because its frequent appearance during tho season of "big gooseberries" is mentioned in "the daily papers . " Of this epoch there always havo been and always will be a number of simple folk ready to believe anything thoy havo had told them or seen in print or MS . I have no objection to include St . Alban , Euclid , Pythagoras , King Solomon , Noah , and , if need be , Adam ,

among the Grand Masters ol our Order , whether operative or speculative , hut I fchall only do so iu tho nursery . If the Germain ; have been laughing at your " averment" about the MS ., & c , & c , what Avill I . hey do about this absurd rigmarole Avhich your contemporary lias now served up to its readers ? Fraternally yours , "Q . "

Masonic Portraits.

MASONIC PORTRAITS .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Through tho diaphonous scumble of your Masonic Portrait in a recent number of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE , entitled " A Shining Light , " one cannot fail to recognise a generally faithful transcript of the worthy Secretary of tho Frederick

Lodge of Unity , Bro . Magnus Ohren , P . P . G . J . W . But there is one error in it , and as this called forth some animadversions from our excellent Treasurer on the occasion of tho last meeting of tho Lodgo , I take the liberty of putting a touch or two to tho Portrait . Tho Lodge has never been resuscitated , for the simple reason that ifc has never been moribund . To Bro . Magnus Ohren it is much indebted , not only for important services rendered in his official capacity , but also for tho

introduction of a largo number of men of high intelligence and good social position . At no period of the history of the Frederick Lodgo has there been any want of vitality . Bro . Ohren has therefore increased its prosperity , augmented its numbers , but there never Avas in tho Lodgo any symptom of decay . Apologising for trespassing on your space , I remain , yours truly and fraternally , H . E . FRANCES , P . P . G . S . D ., D . C . 452 .

Lodge Reports.

LODGE REPORTS .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In an editorial in a late number of your Masonic contemporary attention is called to tho manner in Avhich Lodgo proceedings are made public . About a year ago I endeavoured , through tho medium of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE , to impress upon reporters tho necessity of caution , and the importance

of keeping within the veil . Details , however apparently insignificant in themselves , might nevertheless tend to tho betrayal of matters which should be carefully and jealously guarded . I Avas glad to perceive that in many cases the hint was acted upon . There was a marked improvement in the style of the reports . They were conspicuous by tho absence of " over publication of detail , uninteresting

repetition of common place and well-known Eitual formularies " which the writer of the article alluded to points out as dangerous . Of late , however , the tendency to over-communicativeness has assumed somo of its former proportions . We are far from observing obligatory reserve , and too frequently from being guided by common and extremely necessary prudence . Turning to the reports in the same

publication , I find them replete with the evil which is so strongly deprecated . They might veiy advantageously be modified . We aro not justified , neither is it consistent with the tenor of our Masonic duties , in presenting to the outer Avorld a vivid and minutely defined picture of the mode in which the ceremonials of the various degrees are conducted . To tho initiated the barest statement of the names

of those who had passed through the ordeal of any of the ceremonials is amply sufficient , as the method of procedure is quite as familiar to the reader as- to the Avriter , and tho recital thereof therefore entirely superfluous . Not only is the prevalent enstom to particularise injudicious , useless and unnecessary , but , as experience teaches , very often injurious . A shrewd impostor , perusing Masonic

records as they appear from week to week , could easily gather sufficient knowledge of the routine of the Lodge room to succeed in his pursuit of deception , ancl , if possessed of plausible and insinuating address , would } have no great difficulty so far to hoodwink tho incautious ancl careless as to penetrate into tho Lodgo itself . As one of

the resnlts of this laxity , Avhich cannot be too strongly deprecated and condemned , AVO havo periodical complaints of tricks played upon the unwary , ancl of successful deceit , Avhich diverts charity from its legitimate course into the pockets of tho trickster , whoso audacity and vicious acuteness enables him to transmit the flimsiest materials

into current coin of the realm . Without any desire to dictate or censure brethren who from a sense of duty take the trouble to forlvard reports , I would exhort them to exercise greater care , and ceaso to travel in such fearfully dangerous proximity to tho boundaries of our landmarks , bearing in mind the ease with which , in an unguarded moment , they might be overstepped . Information intended solely

for the Masonic public can be , with but little effort , so wrapped up as to bo perfectly intelligible to those interested and remain profoundly mysterious to the rest of the Avorld . There are numerous incidents iuthe course of a Masonic meeting in Lodge which , without much harm , might perhaps be openly discussed . But if reports wero chiefly restricted to tho proceedings of what is understood to

constitute the fourth degree , although not quite so instructive , they Avould bo devoid of danger , and most probably prove much more interesting and often more amusing to tho general reader . It is for the conductors of a Masonic publication , upon whom , after all , tho weight of responsibility rests , to omit all objectionable matter , and expunge statements likely to lead to over-publicity . There is always a class of individuals on tip-too of expectation to catch their fellows tripping , and ready to

turn tho follies of others to their own profit and advantage . As Masons , AVC aro stricly bound to reticence , and to perform our appointed tasks with that silence and circumspection which has always been deemed essential to the very existence of tho Order . Ifc Avere bettor to suppress publicity altogether than bring discredit upon ourselves by furnishing matter for gossip , and possibly , though perhaps unwittingly , violate our obligations . Yours fraternally , E . GOTTHEIL .

Old Warrants.

OLD WARRANTS .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Tho following from Burke ' s rccragcovd Baronetage ( Ed . 18 ( 34 ) , setting forth tho titles , & c . of the Dukes of Vthole and a few particulars respecting the two Avho wero Grand

Masters of " Ancients , " will donbtless interest your readers , and especially Bro . Constable . Athole , Duke , Marquess , aud Earl of ( Sir George Augustus Frederick John Murray K . T . ) , Marquess and Earl of Tullibardine , Earl of Stratbiay and Strathardale , Viscount Glenalmond , Balquhidar , and