Original Correspondence.

be well to give some information which may be interesting and useful . At the Quarterly Court of the Boys' School , in October last , two resolutions were brought forward for alteration of the Laws . One

directed that arrangements should be made to hold the elections of the two schools on the same day ; the other proposed that donations which would give to individual brethren privileges only for their lives should , as respects future payments from lodges , Chapters , and Societies ,

confer similar privileges only for twenty years , instead of in perpetuity . No similar motions had been submitted to the Quarterl y Court of the Girls' School , and it was ultimately resolved , with theassent of the movers of the resolutions ,

" That , inasmuch as it was undesirable to establish any divergence between the recently assimilated Laws of this Institution , and of the Royal Alasonic Institution for Girls , the several motions for alterations of Laws , of which notice has been ' given for this Court be not now put ; and

that it be a recommendation to the General Committee to invite the co-operation of the General Committee of the Girls' School , with a view to the formation of a Joint Committee to consider whether these and other alterations of the Laws are desirable , and report to Special General

Courts of the two Schools on Thursday , 6 th March , 1 S 7 . 3 . " Accordingly , each General Committee appointed the same brethren , eleven in number , all of whom had had much experience of the working of the existing Laws to form the Joint Committee .

This Committee had had many and lengthy meetings , have gone very carefully over the whole of the Laws , and have agreed to recommend certain modifications , which they will submit to the Special Courts on the 6 th Alarch .

It would encroach too much upon your space to specify the alterations , but copies of the revised Laws are at the offices of botli Institutions , and may be seen during office hours by any of the Governors and Subscribers .

The time of meeting of the combined Courts on Thursday , 6 th March , is 12 o ' clock at noon precisely . The day and the hour have been so fixed with a view to the convenience of country

brethren coming to London to attend Grand Lodge on the previous evening . It is to be hoped that the meeting will be numerously attended , and that the recommendations of the Joint Committee—all of which has been well considered

with a view to the welfare of both Institutions —will meet with a general acceptance . Yours truly and fraternally , J SYMONDS .

NOTES ON THE TEAIPLE AND HOSPITAL .

To the Editor oJ'The Freemason . Dear Sir and Brother , — Bro . Holmes ' s "distinguished friend ' and his distinguished friend ' s prompter , Sir George Bowyer , Bart ., seem to be making a tool ( I feel almost inclined to say a fool ) of Bro .

Holmes , and I am sure it must be a matter of much regret to the brethren to see him placing himself in such a ridiculous position . The distinguished friend is ready to adopt any course to prevent interferrence with the New Statutes , passed by a coup de main at the last Grand

Conclave of the Alasonic Orders of the Temple—Statutes under which he is practically the Grand Master , the Grand Alastcr ' s Council , thc High Court of Appeal , and the Execution-Gfficer , Judge , Jury , Home Secretary , and Gaoler in one person . The distinguished friend ' s prompter is a rabid

Romanist who although he is prohibited from the light of Freemasonry by his Pope , who launches vigourous anathemas against Freemasonry and Freemasons , is sufficiently a Jesuit to use the Freemasons with the view of crushing his old foes , "the Afanchester Alen . " It is " significant" that these ' ** Manchester Alen" who

according to Sir George Bowyer do not exist , who are governed by a noble . and gentle Englishman , who according to Sir George Bowyer is " nothing , " are still to the front in much that is good and great , and still " go marching on , " exercising Sir George Bowyer pretty freely on their way . Bro . Holmes ' s distinguished friend and his

Original Correspondence.

prompter appear to have inadvertently omitted to furnish him with some information which , with your permission , I will at once supply for his benefit and for that of all who may be interested in this matter . The original letters from which I am about to quote are still in existence . I enclose my card ( Masonically ) as an evidence of good faith .

Bro . Holmes s important document ( which , taken in conjunction with subsequent events , would appear to have been drawn up at the instance of Sir George Bowyer ) is dated r 6 th December , 1858 , now in the summer of 1858 , one of the signataries of that document writes a

letter to " the Alanchester Alen , " in which he stated that "he accepted the Order" ( that is the Alanchester Alen who according to Sir George Bowyer have no existence as the Order ) in the position in which it then stood ; he added it is now too late to discuss the origin of the

establishment of the actual Langue of England , the Council of the Order has already expressed its full satisfaction in the < rood faith of the Englishes o men , and as soon as the Catholic Priory is established in England it will announce to the Alagistery and to the sacred Council the formation of a Protestant branch of the Order as

already existing there . Again , in i 860 , two years after this , and upwards of a year after the fulmination of the Bowyer-Holmes document , the same writer , properly described in Bro . Holmes' translation as Secretary to the Alastery of the Sovereign

Order of St . John of Jerusalem addressed the Secretary of the "Manchester Alen" in the following terms , " Our programme and intentions are always the same as when I wrote in June , 1858 ; the substantial basis of all remains the same . "

Bro . Holmes has thought fit , on the dictum of his distinguished friend , to denounce a deceased Clergyman Divinity Doctor of University Chaplain to a recent King of England , as an impostor . Perhaps he may think it advisable to denounce the letters from which I quote as forgeries ,

without seeing them . But let me , with all deference , offer him a little bit of advice—if he really desires true information about the Order of St . John of Jerusalem in England it would be well for him to apply , not to his distinguished friend or to his prompter , Sir George Bowyer , but to the Order itself , in whose possession are some

very curious documents , whose authority and " importance " could hardly be disproved or disguised , before an impartial inquirer , by all the Saints of the Calendar with Sir George Bowyer ' s interpretations at their back . I am , faithfully yours , SERO , SED SERIO . Feb . 23 rd , 1873 .

Notitiæ Templariæ.

NOTITI ? TEMPLARI ? .

BY A PAST GRAND OVI ' ICER . To examine and review the Old K . T . Statutes , seriatim , would take a longer time than would suffice to wear out the patience of ordinary readers . To criticise fully the new Statutes

would still more trespass on their good nature . Each set , I apprehend , was compiled by a single individual , and submitted to an amiable Committee , who , placing implicit confidence in the knowledge , astuteness , and good faith of the

compiler , probably objected as little as possible to the details , except such evident errors as will sometimes escape the vigilance of the writer ; and so , after a short explanation of a few apparent incongruities , the whole is fathered by the

Committee and passed belter skelter through the Grand Conclave . Such , at least , appears to have been the course lately adopted in the revision of the Statutes of Knights Templar . Revision ? no ! that word may bc open to dispute , so let

us call it re-enactment . That this wholesale destruction of time-honoured regulations , and the substitution of new ones should take place without affording an opportunity to those chiefly interested ( or at any rate to their representatives

in Grand Conclave ) of fairly considering the changes contemplated , evinces a usurpation of power to which the Committee have neither legal nor moral right ; and I shall be anxious to see how many of those who have so far exceeded their authority will be re-elected at the

Notitiæ Templariæ.

next Grand Conclave , to fill the offices they now bear . Fortunatel y for the future such occurrences are provided for , as by the new Statutes it is arranged that the proceedings of Grand Conclave "shall be regulated by the rules in Parliament . " As far as I can ascertain , these

changes appear to have given general dissatisfaction , and it is not difficult to recognise the object of all this unseemly haste , which has been displayed in pushing an undigested code of laws throngh a small winter meeting , when few of those present , and none of the absent , had an

opportunity of properly considering a subject of so much importance . I see in the changes now made , an easier and more frequent access to Royalty , on the part of certain chief officers of the Order , and a wedge is inserted for the future advantage of " Ould Ireland ; " but let that

pass— " Every man for himself" ( and his native country ) , & c . ; an old proverb which I fear will not wear out in our time . I remember in Grand Conclave a noble Lord accusing ( most unjustly ) a Very High and Eminent Sir Kni ght of attempting to pass a measure

" by a side wind ; " it did not need the assurance of the Deputy Gi and AIaster that he " scorned to do such a thing "—but in what way were the re-enacted Statutes passed through the Assembly , and were they not supported by the noble lord in question ?

One of the objects ( averred ) of the new regulations is to raise the status of the Order ! admit that to have secured the presidency of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales , is an honour of which every member will be proud , but in no other way have these alterations

contributed to its advancement ; rather the reverse . The remission of the qualification of Royal Arch , the extinction of the rank of Eminent Commander , the abolition of past rank in Grand Conclave , etc ., are all steps in the wrong direction . The substitution of the word " Convent" for

Conclave , betrays a lamentable ignorance of the meaning of the latter term , and supposes that because it was applied to " an assembly of Cardinals to choose a Pope" that therefore'it had no other meaning . Why , the word Conclave existed long before Popes were thought of ! and

signified simply "a room with lock and key , " or " an assembly of any kind met together in private ; " and I know of no other word so appropriate to all the meetings of Kni ghts Templar , as Conclave , from the time when the equerries ,

or sentinels , are placed on duty . It is an Encampment ( or Camp ) before business begins , but afterwards a Conclave , or an assembly of Knights Templar met together in private for the usual purposes . Then I object to the change of the word " Installation" of a Candidate . Why ? Why all these changes ? The reasons should be

explained separately and seriatim , in reply to any questions from the members of Grand Conclave , and not presented as a whole , first to the " amiable" Committee , and then to a small winter meeting , when the Order is scarcely represented , and has had no means of knowing the important subjects about to be introduced .

These reasons are , in my opinion , sufficient to justify any Sir Knight , member of Grand Conclave , in moving " that the minutes of the last Grand Conclave be confirmed only as regards the election of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to the Grand Mastership of the Order . "

HOLLOWAY ' PILLS AND OINTMENT : —Common humanity suggests and public interests demand , that the knowledge of the surest , safest and quickest method of relieving soundness to the sick , should be forced upon all unfortunate sufferers . I'or bad legs , bad breasts and scornbutic or scrofulous sores , HoIIoway ' s Medicaments are Specifics . The grateful and earnest testimony of thousands

who have experienced their unrivalled power over these complaints , and who have been raised from prostrate helplessness and a condition loathsome to themselves and others , renders it quite unnecessary to enlarge in this place upon their extraordinary virtues . The affected part should be bathed with lukewarm water and when the pores are opened the Ointment should be rubbed in twice a day all round the complaining parts . —A DVT .

" A few months ago I was suffering from inflammation of the throat , brought on by a severe cold , so that I could scarcely speak , and only witli great difficulty swallow any food . I could get no permanent relief from any source , until a friend induced me to try your Vegetable Pain Killer , a few doses of which completely cured me . —J . MACK , 11 , Gordon-street , Liverpool , —To Perry "Davis & Son , London , W . C .