Original Correspondence.

'The Rose Croix Chapters in New Zealand under the Supreme Council are : No . G 5 , Star of the South , at Greymouth . ,, 7 S , Excelsior , at Canterbury . „ SS , Southern Cross , at Auckland . „ gi , Wellington , at Wellington .

A complete list of Chapters under this Supreme Council , as well as a list of foreign Supreme Councils with which it is in amity , is given in every edition of the Rules and Regulations of the Ancient and Accepted Rite , which will be republished , with these lists brought up to date , in the

course of next month . Yours fraternally , HUGH D . SANDEMAN , 33 . 33 , Golden-square , VV ., G . Sec . Gen 2 Gth June , 1 SS 2 . I Our correspondent , Bro . Lamonby , will note the authori tativc and decisive reply to his query . —El ) . F . M . ~ [

To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , With reference to the enquiry of your correspondent , Bro . Lamonby , in your last number , I beg to mention that the Supreme Court of New Zealand , being a comparatively new body , has not yet been recognised by

the Supreme Councils of England , Scotland , Ireland , and the United States ; but it is a regularly constituted Supreme Council , deriving its charter of constitution from the Supreme Council of Egypt , which is a council recognised by the Councils of Scotland and the United States , if not of England .

Your correspondent , if he will turn up his file of the Freemason , under date 4 th May , 1 S 7 S , will find a full statement of the constitution of the Supreme Council of New Zealand , of the genuineness of which there cannot be a question . 0

Yours fraternally , JOHN T . LOTH , 33 , Of the Grand Orient of France Author of " The Ancient and Ac cepted Scottish Rite , " illustrated [ See our note to letter above . —En . F . MA

ARCH NAMES . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I have noticed for some time past that in nearly every instance when you report chapter meetings , after the name of the First Principal you put the letters M . E . Z .

Why is this ? Is it owing to the Masonic ignorance of your reporters , or to a culpable laxity of the editor , based considerably oh mistaken courtesy . '' 'Titles and dignities in 'anything arc only valuable in proportion to the respect they arc able to command . There Is only one M . E . Z . in English Chapter Masonry , the same as

there is but one M . W . G . M . in Craft . How would it sound to you to hear the W . M . of your Craft Lodge addressed as M . W . G . M . ? If this cannot be so , why should the First Principal of a private chapter be styled M . E . Z ., especially when his provincial superior is only entitled to be styled E . P . G . Superintendent . '—not

even M . E ., nor not even' Z . I take the liberty of addressing you on this matter , as I understand that one of the duties of a proprietor of a paper , such as yours , is to correct errors , and reform abuses in minor Masonic technicalities , such as the one to which I allude ; and personally 1 will feel glad if you can

see your way to draw attention to the matter , and perhaps at some time you might hint there is such a work as the " Book of Regulations , " in which such matters are treated of , but which , I fear , is an unknown work even to some Past Principals . I remain , very fraternally , ONE OF THE Z . ' s .

ADMISSION OF VISITORS . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Although your leader seems to imply the contrary , ^ I cannot think you will refuse me the opportunity of stating , in reply to Bro . Edmonston ' s letter , that 1 , by no means ,

wished to expound the law relating to " visitors" on my own authority . I am fortified by the written opinion of the late Grand Secretary , Bro . Hervey . That authority , in my judgment , requires no argument to support it . I must decline to discuss further a matter from which it seems impossible to exclude personalities , but I invite Bro .

Edmonston to obtain from the Grand Secretary his opinion on the point . Yours fraternally , J . E . LE FEUVRE , S . G . VV . Hampshire and Isle of Wight . June 20 th , 18 S 2 . iWc comply with the request , ! ot our correspondent . — ED . F .. VA

PUKE WATER IN HOTELS . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — As the travelling season has commenced , permit a word of caution from an old traveller . Every year has its records of valuable lives lost by the contraction of

disease while journeying in pursuit of health , and in nearly . every case the cause has been clearly traceable to the impurity of water used for drinking and ablution . Wells are "ot the only contaminated sources of supply . The house cistern is often as dangerous as a foul well , and the remedy is common to both . 'That remedy is a

Original Correspondence.

filter , but with a difference of application . Well-water should be passed through a filter , but the cistern should contain a filter placed inside it , and cleansed every one or two years at the outside . It may not be possible to compel attention to such matters in Continental hotels , but in the London and English

provincial hotels there is no reason why mine host should not be as proud of the excellence and purity of the water as he professes to be of the wines and accommodation which distinguishes his establisnment . Unfortunately the supineness and indifference of the travelling public unintentionally foster the cupidity of the

host . T he fear of bad water leads to the demand for socalled aerated drinks , as enormously profitable to the vendor as they are unsatisfactory to the public . The universal habit of water-drinking will , it is to be hoped , increase attention to the purity of the supply , and so remove one of the secret hidden dangers peculiar to summer

pleasures . If every traveller were to ask if the accommodation of the the hotel comprised a filtered cistern , and that the cistern was regularly cleaned out , every such inpuiry would increase the attention of landlords to a neglected matter , and perhaps save some valuable life this season from being unnecessarily sacrificed .

As you , Mr . Editor , through your widely read journal are the friend of travellers and mine host alike , I trust your permission of a necessary caution . I may add that the London and General Water Purifying Company , of 157 , Strand , have supplied our Masonic Institutions with filters for the cisterns , and I , when pedestrianizing , feel perfectly safe when I have one of the pocket filters in my portmanteau . I am Sir , yours truly , A . TRAVELLER .

Reviews

REVIEWS

DAS BUCH DER MYSTER 1 EN . By OTTO MANNAM RHYN . St . Gallen Atvveggz . YVeber , iSCy . CHARACTER 1 STIK DER ATTERA MYSTERIEN . Francfort , 17 S 1 J . The real secret of the mysteries of old still remains undiscovered , and the utmost that can be said of them is simple conjecture for the most part . Clement of Alexandria , who wrote much about them , from a Christian point of view ,

and at a time when they had reached , no doubt , more or less universally a dreadful standard of degradation and disgrace , of vileness and profanity , after all only seems to touch the fringe ofthe question , and in all probability only actually represents in part the developement and outcome of the lesser mysteries . Bro . VVarburton , in our own country , Gaily Knight , Captain Christie , Ouvaroff the Russian , and many more have given us so-called explanations of certain

portions , but incompleteness marks all their theories , and unreliability may be predicated safely of the greater part of their lucubrations . The story of "Sethos , " written by a Fench abbe , which is more or less the basis of all modern ^ explanations , as of Moore's " Epicurean , " is utterly unreliable , though to this hour we often see it gravely quoted as a safe authority , especially for the Egyptian mysteries . Bro . VV . H . Rylands , a much

surer guide , would tell us emphatically that the whole subject is yet wrapt in mystery ; ithat the Egyptian Book of the Dead , and other Hierurgic and Liturgic and Theurgic books are so far only in part understood , and that much remains to be mastered before we can safely pronounce or dogmatically decide , if ever , what the Egyptian mysteries really proclaimed . Much that Egyptologists themselves have written about them is pure moonshine and nonsense ; the

creation of a vivid , imaginative , and credulous mind , and can in no way be relied upon . It is , perhaps , the best and safest course at present to limit ourselves to some certain primary assertions like those which follow , and which have been gathered from apparent tenets and special passages from ancient and classical writers . The early " mysteries" were probably nothing more than the Noachic religious teaching , which vvas said

to be inscribed , as our old . Masonic legends , on two great mystic pillars . 'The Mysteries appear undoubtedly early in the settlements and migrations of tribes and nations . If we may credit some writers , the Egyptian mysteries arc the earliest , and they are said to come from India , which , we think , a dubious fact , while others contend for the superior antiquity of the Samothracian mysteries , and the dread names and , rites of the Cabiri , if they be

not one and the same . Certain . it is , that at a ivery early period of the world ' s history these mysteries , as we said before , seem to have overspread the whole ancient world , and whether Indian , Egyptian , Samothracian , Tyrian , Greek , Roman , Mithraic , or Druidic , appear for many centuries to have dominated men and nations . Some have thought and argued that the Oracles were in some way connected with the mysteries , but this is a very moot point

indeed ; but we think that it may he accepted as a fact that whatever these mysteries really taught or proved , they did cover , so to say , the state and personal religion of many nations , and seem to have come from the east to go to the west . But when vvc come to try and ascertain what they really did proclaim , our real difficulty begins . Lobeck declares they taught nothing , except some merely illusory shows and festivals . Others hold that they preserved

the landmarks of primeval truth , however partially or imperfectly , and declared the truths of a new birth , a death and a resurrection , the unity in Trinity of the Deity , the universal resurrection and a general judgment . They are also assumed to have enlightened the " Mustai , " as to the absurdity and profanity of the popular religion , and if under childish figures and mistaken rites to have sought to unfold

the eternal reality of the creation , and preservation , and government of the world by the Great Creator , Artificer Preserver , Ruler , Judge of all . It has been assumed that at the greater mysteries especially , scenic illusions and legerdemain apparatus played a great part , and if we understand Apuleius and others aright , undoubtedly a probationary experience and trial formed part of the ceremony of

Reviews

initiation . When Christianity came in the mysteries seemed to have fallen into hopeless and profans abuse ; many were used for the purposes of licentiouness and immorality . I hey gradually disappeared , and though Julian the Apostate tried to revive them , it was only for a little space , and then they appear to have vanished away for ever . What the connexion , if any , of Freemasonry with them , has

always been a subject of doubt and dispute . In theAntho-Iogia Hibernica Mr . Clinch attempted to draw a parallel between the Eleusinian Mysteries and Freemasonry . But after all , the likeness is more apparent than real , and we do not think that any can push the argument further to-day , so that the actual result is " not pioven . " That the early sodalities may have had

traces of Hermetic symbolism and secrecy is more than probable ; but , then , the Roman Gilds , after the fall of Rome , became universally Christian , and if anything remains for us now , it is to regard the Operative Gilds as preserving in an adapted and religionised form some of the secret usages of the iMysteries , " in respect to initiation , ( muesis ) , probation , recognition , & c . Beyond this we

cannot go . Still the subject has its interest for the Masonic student to-day , and though we cannot reach to the length of some French and German writers , in regarding Freemasonry as a developement of the Mysteries , we are not disposed to deny that in its secrecy , its Hermeticism , its symbolism , its probationary trials and initiatory ceiemonies , it may not hand down some of the machinery of the Mysteries in their better state and happier use . Oliver divides

the mysteries into the pure and the impure , the true and the false , the corrupted and the uncorrupted ; but that has always seemed to us a dangerous argument , as it has a twofold application , and we prefer the other theory , that the Mysteries , originally good-meaning and intelligible , became eventually , through human corruption , bad , senseless , and unintelligible , rendering their universal cessation only the question of a matter of time , as essential to the morality , and welfare , and religion of humanity itself .

SCHRIFTEN UBER FREIMAUREREI . By J . G . FINDEL . Leipsic : J . G . Findel . This is an edition of the well-kno . vn Bro . FindcTs works , published in parts . It is to contain all his writings , and is to make up five volumes , composed of fourteen parts . Each part , which consists of ninety-six pages , admirably printed , is to be had for one mark , or one shilling- English . To those of

our readers who understand German this new edition will be acceptable , as it will enable them to obtain all that Bro . Findel has written oh the subject of Freemasonry , and though , as faithful Masons and honest critics , as is well known to many of our readers , we have not professed , nor profess now to agree with all his arguments , yet we have never shut our eyes to the great , the invaluable

serservice he has rendered to contemporary Masonic criticism , and the important aid he has afforded to all students of the archaeology and history of Freemasonry . Indeed , his history of Freemasonry is the most complete history of Craft Masonry we possess , and though subsequent researches may tend to modify some of his

conclusions , and later writers may invalidate some of his positions , the "Geschicte der Freimaurerei" will remain a monument of honest research , competent criticism , and faithful annalism , and will continue to commend itself to the judgment of the expert and the perusal of the t inking among our great Brotherhood .

CATALOGUES . A CATALOGUE OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN PORTRAITS . Frederick Muller and Co ., io , Doelen Straat , Amsterdam . This list of 5 G 53 portraits and prints deserves to be studied by all print collectors . Mr . E . W . Stibbs , 32 , Museum-street , Bloomsbury , W . C , will be happy to obtain an send catalogues to amateurs and collectors .

ELLIS AND WHITE . Messrs . Ellis , and White , 29 , New Bond-street , have put out as their forty-ninth catalogue , what they truly if modestly term a " valuable collection of rare books , together with some illuminated MSS . " We can only commend it to the attentive perusal of all" bibliomaniacs , " like ourselves , amongst us . The books and MSS . are properly styled valuable and rare .

E . VV . STIBBS . Mr . Stibbs , well known to book buyers at home and abroad , 32 , Museum-street , has sent us his thirty-second catalogue , which contains some most curious and rare works at very moderate prices . We recommend our readers to send for a catalogue . Mr . Stibbs has some curious alchemical works " inter alia " in his catalogue .

ROBSON AND KERSLAKE . Robsonand Kerslake , of 43 , Cranbourn-street , Leicestersquare , have forwarded to us their fourteenth or clearance catalogue of scarce works , which deserve attention . Among them are " Sufferings of | ohn Caustos , " bound up with some other tracts , and the de Gabalis , a Rosicrucian work .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

Masonic Notes and Queries .

l ^' j 14 ] ANTIQUARIAN NOTES . "G . C . " kindly sends us a long extract from Northouck ' s Constitutions , but we cannot afford space for it , as what is wanted are corroborative evidences of our Masonic Historians , not reiterated assertions or deliberate sheepwalking . Unfortunately too many of our historians have accepted references without verification , and averments

without criticism ; the consequence is , incalculable trouble and dilliculty for Masonic students to-day . " Antiquarius , " vye know , would gladly welcome any independent illustrations or facts in support of currently received traditions and declarations , but Northouck took from Entick , EnticU from Anderson , and Anderson from Gild legends , or inaccessible MSS ., so that that the Masonic student of today isoften at his wits' end when he seeks to authenticate the dissertations and dogmata of various confident writers .

ED . F . M . 15 ] , OLD MINUTE BOOKS . Can any brother help me to an old minute book , in the first three decades of the eighteenth century , say 1730 . MASONIC STUDENT .