Masons Out Of Town.

" Armadale ? " For the antiquarian and artist Norfolk will afford equal attractions by its endless variety of church architecture , and the naturalist will find an abundant field for observation , particularly among the water and wading

birds , which , as might be expected , abound here . We have found a rare fern , the Lastnca Thelypleris , m what we believe is an unregistered habitat , on the banks of one of the " broads , " but we will not say which . Selfish , perhaps —but kind to the plant .

We trust we have said enough to awaken the curiosity of those of onr readers who have never visited this part of the world . Wo can assure them it is accessible , for . in addition to the excursion trains from Saturday to Monday , the railway offers facilities for a more protracted stay by issuing fortnightly tickets , by fast trains , at reduced rates .

Quarterly Communication Of Grand Lodge.

QUARTERLY COMMUNICATION OF GRAND LODGE .

THE following is the business to be transacted on Wednesday , 1 st September , 1875 : 1 . The Minutes of the Quarterly Communication of the 2 nd June for confirmation . 2 . Report of tho Lodge of Benevolence for tho last quarter , in which are recommendations for Grants to the amount of £ 350 . i

3 . THE REPORT OF THE BOARD OF GENERAL PURPOSES . To the United Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and , Accepted Masons of England : Tho Board of General Purposes hog to report that tho subject of wearing special or Commemorative Jewels unauthorized by the Most Worshipful Grand Master having been brought nndor

their notice , they have considered it desirable to direct the Grand Secretary to issue a Circular to the Provincial Grand Secretaries and other Masonic authorities , requesting them to warn the Brethren \ mder thrir several jurisdictions against wearing any snch Jewels .

except those which havo previously received the sanction of the Most Worshipful Grand Master . ( Signed ) PETER deL . LONG , FREEMASONS' HALL , LONDON , W . C , Vice-President . 17 th August , 1875 .

To the Report is subjoined a statement of the Grand Lodge Accounts at the last Meeting of the Finance Committee , held on Friday , tho 13 th day of August instant , shewing a balance in the hands of the Grand Treasurer of £ 3 , 482 10 s 7 d ; and in the hands of the Grand Secretary for Petty Cash £ 75 ; and for Servants' Wages , £ 96 15 s .

4 . The Annual Report of "The Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution for aged Freemasons and Widows of Freemasons , " dated tho 21 st May 1875 , will be laid before the Grand Lodge .

List of Lodges for •which warrants have been granted b y the M . W . Grand Master since the last Quarterly Communication of Grand Lodge .

1551 . —Lodge of Charity , Birmingham . 1552 . —Lodgo of Tranquillity , Sydney , N . S . W . 1553 . —Light of the South Lodge , Rosario do Sante Fe , Argentine Repnblic . 1554 . —Mackay Lodge , TVfackay , Queensland . 1555 . —Royal Prince of Wales Lodge , Penang , Princo of "Wales ' Island . 1556 . —Addiscombe Lodge , Addiscombe , Surrey . 1557 . —Albert Edward Lodgo , Hexham , Northumberland .

1558 . —Duke of Connaught Lodge , Camberwell . 1559 . —New Cross Lodge , New Cross . 1560 . —Albert Edward Lodge , Leicester . 1561 . —Morecambo Lodge , Morecambe , Lancashire . 1562 . —Homfray Lodge , Riscar , Monmouthshire .

" Clergymen , district visitors , and others . who often find it expedient to present some wine to a sick person , for the purpose of restotino health , may with confidence nse the ' Specialite ' Sherry of Messrs . Feltoe and Sons , of Albemarle-street . About five hnndr-d medical men have testified as to its soundness and freedom from acidity or heat , and their opinion will be readily endorsed by those who try it It has the advantage , moreover , of being sold at a price not exceeding the injurious compounds commonly sold as Sherry . "—The Rode ,

Correspondence

CORRESPONDENCE

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . VI Letters must bear the name and address of the Writer , not 'nec . psfnrihj for pnl J i cat ion , but as a guarantee of good , faith .

OUR FREEMASONRY . To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I had a good laugh over the earnest way in which Bro . Yarker tells your readers that I , at p . 101 , had placed words in his mouth which he had never used . I think the context may be fairly left to explain that . He might about as well have said that I had set him astride an animal which was dead three hundred

years before ho was born ! To come to tho point , however , we find Bro . Yarkor , at p . 116 , saying : — " I before quoted two sources which I consider undeniably to prove tho antiquity of tho system of three degrees . * * * Tho first of these is tho Sloano MS ., No . 3309 , * recently edited by the Rev . Bro . Woodford , as a MS . of 1650 , which I consider it is , and possibly one alluded to by Dr . Plot . Tho second

is an Aberdeen ritual of 1727 . " Now I have taken considerable interest ia this Sloano MS . No , 3329 , f . 142 , in the British Museum , and in August 1872 I published a copy of it in tho Masonic News . This copy I got through tho kind courtesy of Bro . Hughan . Tho editor of tho Masonic News got any . thing but thanks , however , from some of tho more ignorant or bigotted

portion of his readers . Bro . Woodford s pamphlet appeared in November 1872 . The groat question , however , is : —What is tho real age of this Sloane MS . ? Because it would help to support some of his other notions , Bro . Yarker -unhesitatingly considers its ago to bo A . n . 1650 . I however wrote to Dr . Bond , tho Keeper of the MSS . of the British Museum , upon this point , ancl judging from the

handwriting , he considered its age to ho about 1710 , so that is sixty years less than Bro . Yarker . In his "Unpublished Records of the Craft , " Bro . Hughan says : — " We are also informed , by a gentleman whose name has been honourably associated with tho British Museum for years , that 'as Sir Hans Sloano only died in 1753 , tho article on MS . 3329 mi ght easily be of a date after 1717 . ' " Bro . Jacob Norton , of

America , judging from its contents , is inclined to date it no older than 1730 , while my own idea is abont . 1720 . From tho above , therefore , it will be seen that Bro . Yarker ' s dictum , that the ago of this Sloane MS . 3329 is 1650 , is of very little value , unless ho can bring other evidence to support it , which neither he nor any one else , to

my knowledge , has as yet done . As to the 1727 Aberdeen ritual it is not worth while taking up space about it , as that date is ten years after 1717 . Tho upshot of this controversy , therefore , is , that so far as tho production of "nndeuiable" evidence to prove the existence of our three degrees before A . D . 1717 is concerned , the result has been nil . I am , yours fraternally , W . P . Bl / C'IIAN .

To the Editor of THE FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR Sin , —I havo no intention of intervening in a controversy between two such doughty antagonists as Bros . Yarker and Bucbaii , but there are one or two matters relating , either directly or indirectly , to the points at issue , which Sf cm to me worthy of remark from others . I must premise , however , that I am but a young

Masonic strident , ancl what I offer is move in the way of suggestion than of argument . First , as to the question , Was Sir Christopher Wren a Mason ? For my own part , I should be willing to accept Bro . Yarker ' s quotation from Aubrey as pretty conclusive evidence of a well-known , if not ( according to our more exacting modern ideas ) well-authenticated

fact , namely , that Wren was a Mason . But had I any doubts about tho value of Aubrey's statement , the concurrent testimony of eminent men , wero such obtainable , would go a very long way towards silencing those doubts , and it strikes me such testimony is obtain , able . Bro . Manningham , a former Deputy Grand Master , writing under date of 12 th July 1757 , to a Dutch Bro . Saner on the subject

of the high degrees at that time being imported into the Netherlands , records that " Grand Master Payne , who succeeded Sir Christopher Wren , is ignorant of them , " ( that is the high degrees ) . Now here is an eminent official in Masonry who quotes in evidence respecting certain innovations the living authority of the Master " who succeeded Sir Christopher Wren . " And as what , may I ask , if not as

Grand Master of Masons ? Payne was G . M . in 1718 and 1720 , Sir C . Wron died in 1723 . Thirty-four years after the occurrence of this last event , Dr . Manningham speaks in the present tense of Sir C . Wren ' s successor being ignorant of certain things . Compare we this statement , which comes from a Mason , with the independent evidence of Aubrey as quoted by Bro . Yarker . The announcement

in the latter that " Sir C . Wren is to be adopted a Freemason , " arid Bro . Manningham ' s reference to Payne , " who succeeded Sir C . Wren , " form , at all events , a very remarkable concurrence of testimony . Are we to reject all but documentary evidence in a case of this description ? The positive statements of well-known Masons , contemporary with Wren , cannot be overlooked , or set down as

valueless , and there is no single Masonic writer , with whose works I am acquainted , who does not put down Wren as a Mason , not merely in what I will call a figurative sense , as an earnest architect associated with operative Masonry , but in accordance with the present , or speculative , definition of the art . Wonld tho announcements of all ihese people have passed unchallenged had there been no foundation