The " Month " And Freemasonry.

threatens , we note , the poor readers of the " Month , " with another paper on "Rites and Ceremonies , and the Masonic Traditions , " if the editor is weak enough to give him the opportunity of displaying how little he knows of what he professes so pompously to explain to all . We

have never read an article which gave us a poorer op inion of the intellectual calibre or historical accuracy of the writer , or one which showed us how prejudice and perversity can press into their arotiments , when moved by the "rabies" of

intolerance , or a degtading tendency to persecution , the most inane theories and the most preposterous illustrations . If Joabert M . appears any more in the " Month" we will not fail to keep our readers acquainted with his remarkable contributions , and to make them " au fait " of his happy discoveries .

Archæological Progress.

ARCH ? OLOGICAL PROGRESS .

The history of the three grades is a very peculiar one , and a somewhat difficult one . Whether we commence with the A . and A . Rite , or any other of the Continental systems , we are struck at once with the great peculiarity that they all make the Craft Degrees the foundation of their

after and elaborate system . This is a very striking point , per se , as it involves a paradox . The Craft Degrees , including the Royal Arch , with us are universal , the High Grades are limited , that is to say , while the Craft Grades make Theism the test , the High Grades make

Christianity . We are now speaking of Freemasonry in Great Britain and the United States , we do not suppose that any such test really exists in France or on the Continent generally , where the High Grades are to be found , Sweden , perhaps , excepted . As , however , it does not concern us

to explain this " seeming paradox , " we will go on , having merely noted the point . The High Grades have not "antiquity ' s pride" on their " side , " like the Craft Degrees . It is quite clear now that they are all emanations of the " Rite de Bouillon , " or rather developments , or

expansionsof it . Probably , when Ramsay drew up his " Ancien Rite de Bouillon , " he little realised what an extension his more modest ideas were ere long to receive . The great defect , in our mind , which is to be found in the High Grade system is its unhistorical character . Ramsay

began with a distinct lapse from truth , historical truth , and , to speak honestly , moral truth , when he declared that the Knights Templar , brought back the Freemasonry of his day from the Crusades , and that that was his " Ancien Rite de Bouillon . " From that one false step numerous

other false steps have arisen " ex necessitate rei , " and fictitious claims , and a spurious parentage have been adopted by many of them . The Rose Croix have nothing to do , for instance , with the " Fratres Roseae Crucis , " and all the other grades of the Ancient and Accepted Rite have been but

the fancy creations of some fertile imagination , some without even the slightest appearance of connection or chronology , and we must add , in our humble opinion , common sense . But in saying this we do not wish to be misunderstood . We pass no opinion on the High Grades ,

in their practical development ; we are only treating the subject technically and historically . We conceive thct if their members find good in them they are the best judges of the matter , and we readily concede to them the same liberty of

opinion and judgment we claim for ourselves . But historicall y they are all i 8 th century handiwork , and though some may be earlier and some a little later , we cannot concede to any an earlier formation than 1730 . The same remark applies to manv such Orders as the Red Cross of

Constantine , which , however interesting in itself , cannot historically go back beyond the last century , and is the speculative adaptation of no doubt a once existing Order of Constantinian chivalry . The Mark Degree has taken great proportions latterly , and has now a Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Lodges of its own , and yet we cannot , we

fear , on the stern principles of true historical criticism and archaeological truth , credit it with any antiquity beyond the middle of the last century , if even so early . It is probably the general idea that it embodies in its system the old custom of operative marks on stones . But that , we fear , is an illusion , as its connexion with opera-

Archæological Progress.

tive marks is very hazy , and utterly unchronological . At least , it certainly has no reference to the mediaeval system , and the original Jewish system seems to have been purely alphabetical . We fancy that the real solution of the word "Mark" is to be found in something very

different . A suggestion has been made that the earlier Mark lodges , or whatever they were called , such as " Ark , Mark , and Link , " & c , were dedicated to "St . Mark , " about 1770 or 1780 , and hence the name " Mark . " Just as Craft-Masonry was called

Johannite , so this was called Mark . If any warrants now exist which contain the name of " St . Mark " it would settle the question , and we shall be happy to publish any communication on the subject , within due limits , and written for archaeological purposes . All we have written

today has been penned in the interests of truth . We have no interests to serve , no party to uphold , but we think that " truth is truth " after all , and that when we are digging about the foundations of the good old building of

Freemasonry , in order to see that all is sound and slife , we should be careful , if the Masonry seems a little loose or out of line , to underpin it with good ashlar work , and to strengthen it with the lasting cement of historical reality , certainty , and accuracy .

Plagiarism.

PLAGIARISM .

Plagiarism is an offence not uncommon by any means in the past history and present condition of literature . It is not a novel complaint on the part of many writers , some so-so , some mediocre , and some very common-place indeed . As a generalVule your original thinker does not complain of

plagiarists or plagiarism . For all such know full well that " Geist" or intellect finds , like water , its own level , in the struggles of the press , in the controversies of the hour , in the progress of literary labour , and care very little whether others appropriate the happy idea , or the eloquent

passage , contented that somehow their words are conveyed to many readers at home and abroad . But your second-rate and third-rate " litterateur " is mostly very impressive about " plagiarism . " With some everything , as the printers say , is " copy . " The name of an article , the turn of a

sentence , the view of matters common to a good many persons , even a mistake in a translation corrected , is plagiarism , because , forsooth , he has honoured the world with writing something about the same subject . It is not , indeed , exactly

the same in any one point , but it is something like . In our opinion , there cannot be in our literary struggles and discussions any impertinence more idle , or any pretension more ridiculous . And both deserve to be noted and

exposed . For the great field of literature is open , happily , to us all . There is no privileged class in authorship or in the press . Like the " Free Lances " of old , we ask for a " fair field and no favour / ' and we care neither for the criticism of the incompetent nor the outcry of the unreasonable . What is the real state of the case ? Some

" Arch mediocrity , as Mr . Disraeli once said somewhere of somebody , complains of plagiarism . What is this dire and vile offence ? The A . M . has , it seems , put forth an article on some subject , elevated or common-place , dull or diluted , it matters not to our purpose now .

Another writer , who has not read his eloquent production , has also sent out in due course an article on a somewhat similar subject . Straightway A . M . sends up a loud and impassioned cry of plagiarism . There is nothing really in common between the two articles , no similarity

of treatment or of diction . Indeed , the subjects may be entirely different , but then , oh , yc Gods there is plagiarism in the name . One writer has said " How much , " the other has said " Thus much . " You see at once the plagiarism—both have the word " much . " Such a complaint is like the facetious Tallev , who told Mr . Justice

Lindley a few days ago that , as both their names ended in "ley "" As the end of your name is the same as mine . In the Courts of Equity your Honour will shine . " His Honour , however , did not see it , and sent this rhyming representative of an " uncurrent six and eightpence " into Newgate for twelve months , Neither do we see , neither can we

Plagiarism.

for the life of us see , that such childish and querulous complaints , which we often note in contemporary literature , whether profane or Masonic , can in any way justly substantiate the charge of " plagiarism . " And what is the more amusing in nine cases out often , those who make such

complaints against their contemporaries are the boldest and most unhesitating of plagiarists themselves . They coolly appropriate a portion or the whole of your original contributions , without any acknowledgments ; they write after you —a very common trick . That is to say , you

write an article say , " on a good appetite , ' this week , a fortnight afterwards you will see a feeble parody of what was both vigorous , truthful , and effective , at least , you flatter yourself so . Or perhaps you notice that an article of yours has been travestied , a little altered here , a little

changed there , a few figures struck out , a few figures put in , and , voila , an original article . Yet , who is the plagiarist ? We therefore protest to-day against these " Mawworms " of the press , who are always indulging in querulous complaints of plagiarism , and all

the while are the greatest of literary pilferers . Some one has said , that there is nothing in these days like " cheek , " in literature as in everything else , and no doubt there is some truth in the statement , as we have seen a good deal of that latter commodity lately . But we belong to an

earlier school of manners and morals , and we prefer the good old-fashioned notions of " fair play " and running straight "in all matters literary , domestic , and personal . It is probable that plagiarists and plagiarism will long abound among us while readers are many and originality is

limited . But yet , after all , plagiarism does not much harm , it is good for trade ; and those of us who think over what we write , and write moreover what we really think , we can afford on every principle of philanthropy and Freemasonry to

be generous , and genial , and tolerant towards many a struggling confrere who kindly cribs our ideas , and carefully " hashes up" our articles .

The Illusions Of Life.

THE ILLUSIONS OF LIFE .

Some one has said that life is full of illusions , and so it is . We start often on our earthly career believing in a great deal , which calm experience or customary cares soon teach us is an illusion after all . Life is before us in its day dreams , youth is strong and honest in its own convictions ,

the sky is blue above us , the breezes are pleasant around us , and all seems to foreshadow for us a very prosperous voyage . Our song seems to be " Vogue ma nacelle . " But in a little time the sky becomes overcast , the clouds lower , the storm bursts , and we feel that life , like the great sea ,

is deceitful and dangerous , and that it too has reefs , and breakers , and a lee shore for us poor tempest-tossed mariners . And so little by little our illusions vanish . The fairy castle has utterly disappeared , never to return , its gay " pleasaunce " has passed out of sight , there is nothing

before us but the barren heath , or the perilous morass . Disenchanted , as the French say " disillusiones , " we discern clearly the great difference between anticipation and reality , between fiction and fact , between imagination and truth . It is sad , we feel and confess , for us all

often thus to feel and to reach that home , and that mile stone on our journey , where , as some one has well said , When rising from the turf where youth reposed , We find but deserts in the far sought shore ; When the huge book of fairy land lies closed , And those strong brazen clasps will yield no

more . And yet perhaps such a " reveille , " is good for us all alike . It certainly must be good for us if it makes us realize the true lesson as well as the great end of all human existence , if if causes us to feel that despite our own disappointments and faded dreams , our life , human life , is a most real

thing , if we learn to say with the poet , "life is real , life is earnest , and the grave is not its goal , " and that it has ever its high mission , its solemn calls , its deep responsibilities for us all alike . Happy for us if when we rise to the verity of this wondrous life of ours , we have accepted the lesson thus imparted to us , in all humility of mind , and cheerfulness of submission , if we do not take a