Original Correspondence.

Templar of Scotland and England to decline to admit the Americans as Knights Templar , however they may welcome them as Master Masons or R . A . Companions . Apologising for thus intruding on your space , I am , dear Sir and Brother , Yours fraternally ,

FRATER t CAROLUS . WHAT IS THE SUPREME GRAND

COUNCIL OF THE 33 ° ? ( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The S . G . C . of the 33 , sitting at Golden-square , London , arrogate to themselves the claim to supersede all Masonic authority above the Master Mason ' s degree in this

country . They totally ignore the time-immemorial Conclaves of Temp lars and their privileges , and in their published by-laws have placed them under ban . For such extensive assumptions the S . G . C . 33 ° ought to have unimpeachable title of the validity of their own rite . I propose in this and some

following articles to investigate their claims and titles . In the present letter I will confine myself to that claim which which they draw from the alleged statutes of Frederick the Great of Prussia ; as the S . G . C . 33 have recently advanced this basis by publishing a copy of the original Statutes in Latin ^

and English . There is no external evidence whatever in favour of these statutes , and they bear upon their face the evidence of forgery , and are dated May 1 st , 1786 . The first view that strikes one is the impossibility of the astute Prussian king ever having sanctioned ,

in unknown mediocrities , the power to create Knights , Princes , and Sovereigns , for a few guineas . This itself is fatal to till favourable conjectures upon the subject ; but we have the most express testimony to rebut even the fancy of such an absurdity . Mirabeau , in his "Histoire dela Monarchic

Prussienne , " shows that Frederick was never even Grand Master of the Craft . " L'Histoire Secrete de la Cour de Berlin , " 1789 , vol . 1 , p . 215 , shows that Frederick was imbecile on the 1 st May , 1786 , and had been dying for five months . These following authorities show that Frederick was never a member of the

fancy degrees of the " Empire of the Last and West , " which it is well known had spread to Berlin soon after their invention in 1758 , and that , though Frederick was cognisant thereof , he yet disapproved of the same : —Vassal , " Essai historique surl'institution du Rit Eccossaix , " & C , Paris , 1827 , p . 19 ;

Lenning , " Enclopiedie" ; " Hermes , " vol . 1 , p . 296 , 1212 ; Chemin Dupontes , "Memoirc sur 1 ' Eccossisme ; " Gavel , "Histoire Pittoresque , " p . 206 ( el passim ); Schlosser , "History of the 18 th Century ; Mitchell , "History of Masonry , " p . 116 ; Albert Pike , "Address to the Grand Lodge of Louisiana , "

1858 ; Findel ( various articles ); Folger , "History of the A . and , A . Rite , " New York , 1862 . The so-called Frederick Statutes [ Frederick Dalcho ?] are first heard of from Charleston , after 1802 . What relations had Frederick of Prussia with Charleston , that his doings were known only

there ? All other countries , be it noted , have accepted the A . and A . Rite from Charleston , which derived it from the 25 ° and 29 of the Empire of the East and West , introduced into America by Bro . Morin , a travelling Jewish merchant . Let any man imagine , if he can , that Frederick of Prussia

would have authorised such an agent to create "Sovereign Princes" ! Take the Statutes themselves : at pages 38 and 39 of the recent edition of the English S . G . C . 33 ° , are four signatures and five blanks ; at pages 46 and 47 , the signatures are the same , but given in different order ,

with the same number of blanks . The explanation which is propounded for our acceptance of this mysterious identity of names and blanks , with diversities of position , is that the blanks have been produced by the attrition of sea-water and other perils of the elements I But the waves of ocean must have been

very discriminating to efface the same signatures where the blanks exist , and to leave the same names surviving , although the order in the two cases is varied I It is unnecessary to draw conclusions , as the dullest intellect may judge such facts . Thus far one of the claims : they have others

which shall be investigated hereafter . This letter will sufficiently show that one of the most important of their positions is based upon fargery and fraud , and there is plenty of further proof if it is required . Fraternally yours , Manchester . JOHN YARKER .

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR , —I am infotmed that members of lodges in Holland use short swords or dirks as part of their Masonic clothing in lodge . One such

presented himself at a lodge in Liverpool recently , and was admitted after being duly vouched for . As a matter of courtesy , the . Master did not ns ! : him to leave his sword with the Tyler outside the lodge , The question now arises , as a . matter of practice ,

Original Correspondence.

should such a case occur again , is the Master of a lodge bound to refuse a foreign brother admission , unless he takes off his side arms ? The old sections in the first degree says that the candidate was deprived of m Is that he might bring nothing offensive or defensive into the lodge ,

as the principles of Masonry forbidding the one render the other unnecessary . The modern edition of the sections is much to the same effect , viz ., that he might bring nothing offensive or defensive into the lodge to disturb its

harmony . Does the above only apply to candidates , or is it equally applicable to members and visitors ? The favour of a reply in THE FREEMASON will oblige , Yours fraternally , Liverpool , 26 th June , 1871 . W . M . 724 .

[ In the earlier part of the last century English Freemasons wore their swords in the lodges , and the custom is still observed abroad . It is now tacitly prohibited in England , and visitors presenting themselves armed should be told that weapons are inadmissible in a Society dedicated to peace and fraternal affection . —ED . E . ]

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) SIR , —I would feel obliged if you , or any of the brethren , would inform me if it is customary , at the installation of a W . M ., where a banquet is held and the usual loyal and Masonic toasts are proposed , to leave out the retiring W . M . and officers ? I am , dear Sir and Brother , A SUBSCRIBER .

[ No . It is usual to couple the Immediate P . M . ' s health with the toast of the P . M . ' s during the year . —ED . F . ]

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) SIR , —Will you kindly give me an answer to the following question ? At the ceremony of installing the Master of a lodge , is the lodge raised to the third degree before the Master Masons retire ; or

only in the presence of the Board of Installed Masters and the candidate for the chair ? I am , Sir , faithfully and fraternally yours , P . M . 1151 .

Lostwithiel , Cornwall , June 28 , 1 S 71 . [ The lodge is always opened or resumed ( as the case may be ) in the third degree before the M . M . 's retire . ED . F . ]

Poetry.

Poetry .

MASONIC SONGS TO POPULAR AIRS . No . 1 . —AIR , "Maggie's Secret . "

In the days of old , when Earth was young In all its golden prime , When " the Light" in its earliest dawn was flung O ' er the rippling waves of time :

Then man and man on the Level met , And parted on the Square : Ere class distinctions their barriers set Around them everywhere . As time rolled on , each passincr acre

New laws brought into play , And wc learn from History ' s ample page How they strengthened , day by day , Till man against man employed his skill On a brother ' s fall to rise , And those who had wrought the greatest ill Were lauded to the skies . But still throuHi all . one irolden link

Kept union with the past , And made them pause in their course to think As its light was round them cast ; It joined them to days that had long gone by , It softened their passions down , It chased the angry glare from the eye , And turned aside the frown . Wc Masons know flint tlinf trnlrlfn rlinin

Our ancient Order binds , And brings those bygone times again To gladden doubting minds . For when in Lodge pur brethren meet , They on the Level stand , And the humblest Mason takes his scat With the noblest in the haul .

Then here's to the Craft , that binds us all In a union strong and true ; 1 Let every Mason respond to the call , As Masons are wont to do . Mav its nower increase from d : iv in da v .

"Accepting" and making "Free" " Good men and true , and let each say , From his heart : " So mote it lie I " Dublin . 3 . IL \ Y ,

What Is Spurious Masonry?

WHAT IS SPURIOUS MASONRY ?

The following is the letter to which we referred last week ; it is necessary to add that we are not in any way responsible for the accuracy of its statements : — DEAR S IR AND BROTHER , —On another page of this communication , wc beg to exhibit to you a

copy of a circular referring to us , which has recently been addressed to the Irish Prince Masons ; and , in doing so , we presume we are only carrying out the wishes of the authors of it by giving the paper every publicity . We think we shall sufficiently answer the

imputations cast upon us by giving a brief notice of the history of the rite to which we have the honour to belong , and under which , at the Jerusalem Chapter of Antiquity , Manchester ( 1786 ) , we received the higher Masonic degrees ; and afterwards by examining the claims of the system which has set

itself in opposition to it . In referring to the authority under which these degrees are worked in Ireland , we shall endeavour to avoid the use of a single term which could be thought offensive , notwithstanding the fact that the circumstances of the case would justify us in employing strong language

when speaking of those who , in their zeal to maintain the exclusivencss of their Order in this country , have in a manner forgotten their obligations to us as Master Masons , and have spoken of their brethren in words , not only harsh—not only unmasonic—but in some cases ( we state it with regret ) in a way that

was ttngentlemanly—an unpardonable oftence , indeed , in those who , as Irish Rose Croix Masons , claim to be " gentlemen "par excellence . In exhibiting the claims of the rites now practised in England , there is no necessity to go beyond the establishment of the Grand Lodge in 1717 , and it is

quite certain , from undeniable evidence , that the ancient English or ( 1 ) York rite has been in uninterrupted operation ever since . There is printed evidence in 1721 ( 2 ) , 1724 , and 1 744 to show that a system of high-grade Masonry at that period prevailed , but was , perhaps wisely , repudiated by the

modern Grand Lodge ( 3 ) . The work of 1721 alludes to the higher mysteries of Christian Masonry , in Rosicrucian symbolic language , the pamphlet of 1724 to " the fifth order , " and the work of 1 744 to " three steps above Master Mason , ( 4 ) further stating that these were practised at York ,

London , and Dublin . There existed in London in 1743 , a " Provincial Grand Lodge and Chapter" of " Hercdom—Rosy Cross , " which at that date granted warrants claimed to have existed from " time immemorial , " ( 5 ) and to have been instituted as an order by those Templars

who fought for Bruce at Bannockburn . Upon this assumption of an antiquity of five centuries , the " Royal Order " claims to have originated the degrees of Rosa : Crucis , or Rose Croix , and this , and various other facts , connect these orders with the Templars , though the Rosa : Crucis embrace

traditions from the ancient Theosophic brotherhood of the Rosy Cross . It is well known that the English Order of Templars could be traced back at the beginning of this century to the year 1740 , and the close connection but separate nature of the Templar and the Kadosh . even at that time , can be proved .

( 6 ) The oldest document wc have is a London one mentioning the following degrees : —Symbolic 3 . Master Architect 1 [ P . M . ] , Royal Arch 1 . Rosa : Crucis , or Triple Cross , 1 , HRDM TP 1 , Kadosh Palestine , I , Red Cross , Physical , Philosophical , and Moral .

On the Continent of Europe , the Chevalier Ramsay , 172 S , advocated his own peculiar rite of seven degrees , and received , prior to 1736 , the patronage of the Jesuit Chapter of Clermont , with which the exiled King James II . had been connected . In

1740 the Templar Order was practised by Field-Marshal Von Marshall and Baron Hunde ( " Privy Councillorand proprietor of many estates" ) , crossed over to the French army at Brabant in 1743 , an . 'l was there received a Templar ( 7 ) . The Kadosh is said to have been established at Lyons in the same

year . In 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart was made a Scottish Templar at Holyrood , and in 1747 he granted to brethren in Arras , in France , a charter ( yet in existence ) as " King of Great Britain and in that quality S . G . M . of the Chapter of Hercdom

known under the title of Knights of the Eagle and Pelican , and since our misfortunes as Rose Croix " ( the symbol of the Pelican feeding its young was used upon the banner of his father , the Chevalier St . George , in 1715 ) . ( 8 ) Baron Hunde afterwards became Commander of the " seventh province of

the order" ( 9 ) under the Stuart Prince , and propagated in 1754 a rite consisting likewise of seven degrees , of which wc have 5 th Rosy Cross , 6 th Templar , 7 th Professed Knight [ Kadosh ] . These facts arc quite sufficient lo prove the authenticity and antiquity of lhe Ancient Templar Rile of S'iven Degrees ; and we are expressly in-