The Vacant Secretaryship Of The Girls' School.

jury , to whom nine brethren are now confidently appealing on the " merits " of their " case , " we wish to put before our readers a few thoughts and considerations which have suggested themselves to our mind , and may not be distasteful or unseasonable even to them just now . We would

say , in the first place , that whosoever be successful in the contest , and we do not attempt to forecast the issue of the struggle , we trust that in any case a better system will at once be inaugurated by the new Secretary as regards the canvassing for subscriptions and Stewardships .

It is well known that Bro . Little suffered in his health , somewhat delicate naturally , by late hours and reiterated visits to lodges . We feel sure whatever may be alleged to the contrary , that this " personal solicitation " of support is distasteful tn the great ittajorili / of our brethren . In

fact it resolves itself into this , practically , that the Secretary who can best go through the visitation of Lodges is the most successful in advancing the interests of his particular institution . This should not be ! It is a parody on our professions of Masonic charity ; it is in open antagonism

with the principles of active beneficence we often and loudly proclaim . Admitted , if vou like , that human nature is ever the same , in Masonry and out of it 5 concede , if you will , that persons and Masons require to be sought out and appealed to in order to be induced to eive , yet we

feel sure that our present system of asking for " support by visiting lodges , is alike detrimental to the charity , to the Secretary , and to Freemasonry . It gives a sort of varnish to an outside avowal of charity , which is , nevertheless , hollow within j it weakens the very principle of giving for duty ' s

sake ; it discolours the noble appearance of benevolence v . ith too much of outside show and popular applause , and it serves to conceal a very unsatisfactory state of things . We wish , therefore , in the first place , to see the principle of Masonic charity placed upon a surer basis , on more real

and enduring principles . In the next place , the present arrangement tends to the exaltation of the individual , and the oblivion by the aggregate of their duty and their responsibility . Our charitable returns are the product of the warm-hearted zeal and disposition of the few , as contrasted

with the many , of the liberally minded individual brethren , instead of the great bulk of cur Fraternity andour lodges and chapters . These are they who fill up our goodly returns year by year , who gladden tha hearts of Bros . Terry and B inckes , and Hedges , as in 187 S for the Girls' School ,

who make the profane world to marvel at Masonic charity and Masonic sacrifices . But all the while a large proportion of our Order , of our lodges and chapters , never have done and do nothing now for the great , the valuable , the much needed charities of English Freemasonry . This one fact

serves to convince the thoughtful and thc experienced Mason that , as the old saying runs , " all is not gold that glitters , " and despite our apparent success we have counterbalancing drawbacks to admit and contend with . We are quite

willing to confess , for we speak in no accents of blame or even fault finding , that the efforts of the Secretaries of our great charities have been alike most earnest , most meritorious , and most successful . But we should wish to see that

every lodge and chapter should recognise the primary duty of supporting our Masonic Charities , and then the great mass of our brethren will no doubt " follow suit . " Unfortunately the low subscriptions of some provincial lodges and chapters , ( a very great

blunder on every ground ) , and the heavy expenses of many of our metropolitan lodges and chapters , render the recognition of charitable effort a subject of some difficulty , except by individual liberality . We recommend , then , manv of our provincial lodges and chapters

to raise their subscriptions and fees at once , and we urge upon many of our metropolitan lodges and chapters a diminution , if possible , of their ordinary expenditure , for the purpose of shewing to the Craft and the world , that " charity , " true charity , is still the " distinguishing characteristic

of a Freemason ' s heart . " The one fact to which we called attention a fortnight ago , namely , that of our new lodges from 1700 , only five had sent any Steward or support to the Girls' School , is a striking commentary on the general justice of our remarks , and a fitting corollary to the special

The Vacant Secretaryship Of The Girls' School.

arguments we have sought to commend to the notice of our readers .

The Queen's Birthday.

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY .

As patriotic Englishmen and Freemasons , we must ever rejoice in all that concerns the greatness and the happiness , the progress and the honour , cf that wonderful country of which it is our pride and privilege to be citizens . How life has passed on with us all , since many of us cheered

the Queen in the crowded streets , as she wended on her way , surrounded by all the pomp of state and all the insignia of royalty , and all the prestige of empire , to Westminster Abbey , to be crowned , in her youth and her grace , the mighty monarch of a loyal , and understanding and

rejoicing people . Time has since brought to her many joys , and vivid sorrows , lovingly shared in by a sympathetic people , and her last birthday , ( Her Majesty having been born in 1819 ) reminds us forcibly how the hurrying years are fleeting by with her and with ourselves . As we look

back confidingly and gratefully to-day , we note since her accession under what a constitutional regime we have happily lived , how truly she has understood , how nobly she has discharged her onerous and sacred duties , and how tho virtues ofthe woman have exalted even the diadem of the

Queen , and how at home and abroad , in Europe and in the far East , amid old monarchies and new republics , in polished Paris , in intellectual Germany , in fervid Australia , in loyal Canadas , in and among the great American people , her name is a verv household word . To us as

Freemasons , loyalty is a lesson we learn from our first admission into our friendly and excellent fraternity , and as Freemasons , while we pay obedience to the laws of any state where we sojourn for a season , and recognise loyally all forms of government , we do not conceal and we need

not deny our preference for that unrivalled con stitution of ours which under a limited monarchy is the best and surest guarantee for the sacredness of the throne and the liberties of the people . In other days our country has preserved its Constitution amidst convulsions which destroyed

foreign Governments , convulsed Republics , and shattered Empires . If there be yet before us an " upheaving of the nations" if there be threatenings of internal commotion and insane violence in other lands , we , in England , feel sure that , resting on the firm basis of legal

enactment , and covered by the iEgis of a free Constitutional Monarchy , we shall outlive the gale and the whirlwind , and preserve inviolate for our descendants the honoured framework of our priceless form of Government and administration . Like the pyramid of old , the apex of our social state ,

great and venerated , and solemn , rests upon successive layers of sound and good ashlar work , until it reaches that goodly plateau , so artistically designed and adjusted , the intelligence , the loyalty , the sympathy , the affection of a great and

generous people . To-day , then , remembering the past , realizing the present , and looking on to the future calmly and confidingly , ours will be a loyal recognition of , a grateful admiration for , the domestic virtues and the exalted merits of our

Sovereign Lady the Queen in her long and happy and constitutional reign , and our prayer will be that it may please the G . A . O . T . U . to give her many years of p ; rsonal happiness and public prosperity , if such be His gracious Providence , and thafc our " children ' s children may see her children ' s children , and that peace may be upon Israel . "

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

( We do not hold ourselves responsible for , or even as approving ' . f the opinions expressed by our correspondents , but we wish , in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain necessary limits—free discussion . —ED . 1

THE SUPREME COUNCIL OF SCOTLAND . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — The Constitutions of the Supreme Council of Scotland are prefaced by the following statement : — " The Supreme Council , which is the chief tribunal of Masonry

for the Rite to which it belongs , was established in the year 18 4 6 by Illus . Bro . Charles Morison , of Greenfield , M . D ., Physician to Her Majesty ' s Forces , Grand Inspector-General 33 of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite , who held his pitent from the Supreme Council of France , dated 15 th November , 1814 . "

Original Correspondence.

In making this statement , its author shows gross inaccuracy and ignorance of historical fact ? . The Supreme Council of France was not instituted until 7 th May , 1821 . Consequently Dr . Morison did not hold his patent from that body . He held , however , a patent , of the date

mentioned , from a spurious body , then existing at Paris , designating itself "The Supreme Council of the 33 for the French West Indits Islands . " Dr . Morison ' s patent is signed by its " Grand Commander ad vitam , " a Count de Grasse .

This brother , who was an officer in a French cavalry regiment , and some time aide-de-camp to the Prince Eugene , represented himself as having been created a 33 by the Supreme Council at Charleston , in America , " iV 1797 ; but strangely , that Council had no existence until 31 st May 1801 . The Count ' s patent too , which is dated , not as one would have expected , in 1797 , but on 21 st Feb .,

1802 , does not bear thc signature of any of the brethren who were said to have received him into the Order , and who , of their own knowledge , could certify that fact . No reason has ever been assigned for the delay of five years in his obtaining it , nor for the disapprarance in the interval from Masonic cire ' es , in that then limited community , of the six brethren who were said to have

conferred the degree upon him . In their places the Count ' s patent bears the signatures of six unknown Masons , but one of whom it has been ascertained was his own brotherin-law . Thus , apart from the invalidity of the Supreme Council of the " French West Indies Islands , " it is more than doubtful whether the Count de Grasse was a 33 rd at all . If he was not , he had no title to create a Supreme

Council anywhere . Count de Grasse returned to France in 1804 , and between that year and 1818 he instituted no fewer than four Supreme Councils at Paris , and but fir his detention as a prisoner of war for several years during that period in England , he would probably have created as many more . Ultimately , he was deposed from his office of

"Commander ad vitam , " by one of his own spurious councils for trafficking in degrees . I presume it was through such traffic that Dr . Morison received from him his patent . It is maniftstly spurious , for by thc Constitutions of the Order not more than one Supreme Council can exist at one time in one State , and one did exist in France prior to and at the time the Count ' s was instituted . The device of

designating Count de Grasse's Council at Paris as for the " French West Indies Islands " did not overcome the provision of the Constitutions against it . It is thus seen that Dr . Morison had no lawful title whatever to institute a Supreme Council in Scotland , but even assuming that his patent was a genuine one , it , such , as it was , expressly debarred him from doing so , for it

authorised him "to create and constitute Masons to the 30 ° " only . It follows from this that the Supreme Council of Scotland , instituted by him , as set forth in its own Constitutions is a spurious body , besides , at the date of its institution , a body named thc "Scottish Council oE Rites" existed in Scotland , and had done so for many years , which worked the Ancient and Accepted Scottish

Rite , under warrant from the Grand Orient of France . The ground was thus pre-occupied , and no other Supreme Council could during its existence be created in Scotland . Thc Supreme Council ofthe Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America claims to be " the Mother Council of the world . " How can this be ? It was only instituted in May , 1801 . According to history , Frederick the

Great , king of Prussia , was in 176 5 acknowledged as head of the Scottish Rite , and in 1786 he was proclaimed its chief , with the title of Sovereign Grand Inspector General and Commander . He , it is said , created the Thirty , third Degree , and out of the possessors of it a Supreme Council was formed . He died in August , 1786 . If this historical account be correct , it is clear that the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States

is not th' : " Mother Council of the World . " Perhaps , its distinguished Sovereign Grand Commander will kindly enlighten your rudders on this knotty point of Masonic history . To me , the claim appears irreconcileable with fact , for all those degrees , as is well known , were practised by the Grand Lodge and Grand Orient of France , many years before the commencement of the present century . Yours fraternally , A 33 ' .

ROYAL ARCH DEGREE AND TRACING BOARD . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I am very pleased to find by the letter of Bro . John Gamble , that another of those curious prints in relation to the Royal Arch has been preserved , although in a somewhat mutilated condition . I have cirt fully examined

my own specimen again , but cannot anywhere find the words " Printed and sold by Companion Cole , 78 , Fore-street , Cripplegate , " nor have the words ever existed on thc face of the engraving . In the production of the document two brass or steel plates have been user ! , one for the parallelogram and triangle at the top , and the other for the emblematical design .

With reference to Bro . Main ' s letter , I may observe that I founded my opinion as to the age from the style in which it is framed . The frame is of black wood and is gilt round the outer edge , and also round the inner edge , which is beaded . I possess several such frames . This one is much worm-eaten—in itself a proof of age . Another frame in my possession , very similar to it , and of

about the same size , contains an engraved portrait of King George III . when a very young man . George III . ascended the throne 25 th October , 1760—nearly 118 years ago . Hence , from the general style of both these frames , I thought myself justified in assigning the age , in round numbers , to be 120 years . Of course the engraving would be contemporaneous with the frame , or nearly so . Add to this the fact that Dr . Fifield D'Assigny mentions the Royal