Fraters Rosicrucianæ Societatis In Anglia.

FRATERS ROSICRUCIAN ? SOCIETATIS IN ANGLIA .

By command ofthe R . W . Chief Adept , C . Fitzgerald Matier , p ° , the fraters of the United College of Alanchester , Liverpool , and the Northern Counties were summoned , on Saturday last , to the Adelp hi Hotel , Liverpool , to assist in ' fbrming the M ****** C ***** . There

were present R . W . Frater C . F . Alatier , < f , Chief Adept ; Fraters G . Turner , 8 ° , Sub .-Adept ; T . Entwistle , 6 ° , Celebrant ; j . Kellett Smith , f , Treas . General ; G . P . Brockbank , 5 , T . B ., ns First A . ; J . R . Goepel , 4 ° ; T . Clarke , J . Lloyd , kc . The M ***** C ****** was duly formed , after which the minutes were read and confirmed .

Ballots were then taken for several aspirants to the grade of Zelator , and the following being in attendance were severally introduced , and , having passed the required tests , were received as fraters of the brotherhood : —T . -Ashmore , J . Wood ( of Liverpool ) , T . Wilson ( Wigan ) , R . Harwood and J . W . Taylor ( Bolton ) . The circle was afterwards dissolved , and the fraters adjourned to banquet .

Consecration Of A Royal Arch Chapter At Anerley.

CONSECRATION OF A ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER AT ANERLEY .

One of those interesting ceremonies that only occur occasionally took place at the Thicket Hotel , Anerley , on Thursday last , when a new chapter—the Stanhope—was consecrated by

that veteran amongst Freemasons , Comp . W . Watson , P . M . E . Z ., ably assisted by Comp . A . P . Leonard , William Piatt , Foxall , and several other companions , all of whom have held the distinguished office of Al . E . Z . in other chapters . The ceremony was performed with that solemnity which ' always distinguishes the

consecrations presided over by Comp . Watson . The consecration cerecmony over , Comp . John Hart , P . AI . of thc Stanhope Lodge , No . 1269 , was installed as M . E . Z ., Comp . II . W . Lindens , P . M . Stanhope Lodge , as li ., and Comp . Josep h W . Terry , P . M . West Kent Lodge , No . 1297 , as J . ; Comp . Underbill of the Stanhope Lodge was elected by the companions P . S .

The chapter having been closed in due form the companions adjourned to partake ol n excellent banquet , whicli Comp . Laishman provided with his usual liberality ; the pleasures

of the evening were enhanced by some excellent singing by the companions , all of whom retired at an early hour , highly gratified wilh the prospect of success that appears to assist the new chapter .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic Notes and Queries

BI ; N * IVO < , I : L SOCII-TY . What was the initiation ceremony ( commencing at a tavern , nnd ending next morning at the

tomb of Bacchus ) which was used by lhe Flemish painters nt Koine , when a brother artist from their country wns admitted into this society . —GEOIUIK MARKHAM T WI ** . » I- > KI . L .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

THE LATE BRO . JOHN THOMAS , To the Editor if The Freemason . Dear Sir , and Brother , — A meeting took place at the Board Room ofthe Grand Lodge on Saturday last to consider the subject ofa testimonial to the memory ofthe late Bro . Ihomas .

A committee and suli-cornuuU . ee were formed for thc purpose of receiving subscriptions and performing the other duties which necessarily devolve on them . It is indeed a fact not to be forgotten , especially by South 1 , ondon Freemasons , even -amidst the

hurry and bustle of life , that a man in many respects remarkable has passed away . An architect by profession , he was to his professional friends a man of ability nnd Stirling worth , to his neighbours in his general

intercourse he . was frank and generous , and cav . li luring his long residence among them could speak of him in the words of Pope : — " An honest man close buttoned to the chin , Broad cloth without and a warm heart within . " To the Masonic brother he was however far

Original Correspondence.

more , and from his Masonic cradle , he was his friend , to teach him , to guide him , to allure him wisely in the way he should go . Few who have not known Bro . Thomas with some degree of intimacy can understand the peculiar influence he exerted overall , even to the youngest brother , while his presence and

personal influence rarely failed to banish discord , and restore harmony and peace , where , from any cause it had been disturbed . It is also most certain that amongst the hundreds and thousands to whom , in his long career he has been instructor and friend no one has ever been known to express other than feelings of love and devotion , those feelings they still retain , and still , as a dear

possession , " * Treasure the looks tbey cannot find , The words that are not heard again . " Yet it is not merely as a friend and teacher that Bro . Thomas will be remembered . To some of thc more thoughtful he vvill be endeared

as the traditional Alasonic historian "par excellence" of his day . Freemasons are often asked for some proofs of the antiquity to which they lay claim . Like all other municipal institutions , Freemasonry has a Roman origin , and although actual Roman

institutions have been traditionally handed down almost to our day , or , as institutions , still exist , yet there is confessedly a difficulty in bridging over the gap which connects the Freemason of to-day with the ijimsi Alasonic Institutions of former times . When , however , men , like our deceased

friend , devote 30 years of life to its teachings , we can readily understand how a few such men in succession may bridge over a very long period of time , and hence how in times of ignorance and neglect it has come down through the highways and byeways of history .

How feelingly nnd lovingl y does Sir Walter Scott describe liis " Old Mortality" as consecrating his life to the memory and history of those he held dear , and who indeed wns n greater "Old Alortality" than Sir Walter Scott himself ? Gwi / . ot , in referring to this very creation of onr

unrivalled novelist , declares that tt is by such means chiefly that the history of past times has descended io our day . "We have heard with our ems , nnd onr fathers have told vis" is even in the bible the seal of truth . 1 low deeply intereslint * indeed woultl be a book written on such men , of whom we may consider Bro- Thomas as ; :

type , and wo rejoiced that he has raised up a school not likely readily to fo-gt-t cither his practice or his doctrines . Of tin ' s great truth the lirst testimonial meeting at the Grantl Lotlge gave evidence . W . VINKK lii ' . noi . i'i * :, S . W . 1329 .

"SPIKITU \ LISM . "

( 'To the Editor of Tlie . Freemason . ) Dear Sir and Brother , — Although tlie columns of The

Freemason do not seem to be exactly the locality wherein to seek a discussion on wbat is known as " spiritualism , " still ns the subject litis been partly ventilated there , may I trespass on your space with a few remarks .

1 have been interested in the matter for some years , and have hatl various opportunities of investigating the alleged phenomena . In the course of my examination , I have met with quite enough to restrain mc from endorsing thc assertion that what is known as Sp iritualism i .

cither a delusion or an imposture . So much for my personal experience , which , as I put it , must IM ; taken as at least " negative evidence . " Looking at the subject generally , and knowing what is stated of many of the phenomena , and by whom , I see no rational

conclusion than thai those phenomena are proved facts . Much ol" the confusion that exists in judging of this , as of oilier matters , arises probably from ignoring the distinction between two kinds of

evidence , the direct , and the secondary description . When our Bro . Carpenter asserts that his belief in the phenomena is based upon what has spontaneously occurred iu his own resilience , no one being present but his wife and himself , thc

Original Correspondence.

evidence he tenders is both direct and secondary , direct as regards himself , and in consequence he knows the facts to be true , secondary as received by others , and valued b y them in proportion to their belief in his veracity and power of impartial judgment .

In every-day life we are compelled to accept and act on secondary evidence . For example . If two men walking in the street see a third man steal a purse , and he be given into custody , they know him to be the thief , but the magistrate who sentences him to the punishment provided

for the offence , does so because he believes him to be guilt } - on the statement of those who were witnesses to the act . Bearing in mind the number , character and capabilities of those who have come forward to attest of their own knowledge the genuineness of what are called spiritual phenomena , if we deliberately reject their

accumulated testimony and ascribe the facts they affirm to be true , to either delusion or deceit , I would like to learn on what princi ple we should accept any secondary evidence on any subject , and I woultl suggest to the rejectors that logically carried out , their scepticism wonld apply to subjects that possibly they might consider it profanity to doubt .

Uro . Buchan , m I , ist week ' s mini her , deals very fairly with the subject , basing his argument on his own personal ex peri * -nee . 1 for one would prefer explaining admitted faels by known laws , but if all the facts stated by spiritualists be true , I see no theory but that of spiritualism to

cover them all . It is a very different thing for ( lever illusionists to imitate phenomena under circumstancts p rovided by themselves , and for a medium to produce those phenomena , in a strange locality , under lest conditions , and surrounded by watchful

and suspicious . sceptics . Professional media are almost always regarded with suspicion , and it is probabl y belter that it should be so . If their powers are real , test conditions will hel p to prove their reality , if they assist lhe phenomena designedly , lhe sooner they are found out the

better lo : * lhe cause of truth , and the less likely others may follow the example . 1 say nothing now of lhe teachings of S piritualism , in their detail . One . serious objection to " Circle Sitting , " is the avidity with which some inquirers seem to take in ns gospel truth , any statement purporting to come from spiritsources

apparently forgetting both the precept '' Believe not every spirit , but try the spirits , " and the assertion , " lli-it hi the \ : t < t -l . i- ' . s some . shall de * art giving heed to seducing spirits . " The spiritual theory of future existence , riglnly understood , seems to ba both philosophical and rational , which is more than can be said of some of the

teachings ol " Orthodoxy as expounded by tile Churches . In conclusion , I may allude to the fact well known to those interested in the sttbj . e . t , that what is called " Spiritualism" in one shape or other , is making great progress in general society . Kew " outsiders" have anv notion of the cxteni

to which it has bi come acclimatized withm the last few years , and some of these line days when the clergy wake up , and possibly find it their duty to preach down the heresy , they will be somewhat startled to find how much it has undermined their " cut and dry" theology .

With all the rubbish associated wall its investigation , and encumbered thongh it be with tremendous proportion of " twaddle ' nnd nonsense , there is something in it that seems to commend it to the spirit of the age , and it would

be well if those who assume to be the teachers of the people , would do their duty liy honestly investigating it , and endeavouring to separate the wheat from the chaff ' in the phenomena and their inferences . Fraternally yours , I OS ); I'll II . WooDU'OKTil .

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