Original Correspondence.

, 875- A f ° )' ears ago Bro . Simonsen was appointed uastor of a Norwegian congregation in Wisconsin , one of the United States of Ameiica ; and he went out there to discharge the duties of his office . It happened that he had been initiated into Freemasonry in Christiania , but had only received the First Degree when he went over to America . He was , however , not inclined to "hide "his

Masonic " light under a bushel , " and it came to the knowledge of his brother clergy that he actually was a Freemason . They took counsel on this ( to them ) extraordinary fact , and he was summoned before the Wisconsin Norwegian Synod , at their annual meeting in the town , or city , of Lisbon . The Synod not only required that he should abjure Freemasonry , but that he should denounce

it as " sin ! " Our brother declined to do either of these things ; but , on the contrary , had the courage to deliver before the Synod a very bold defence of Freemasonry , in which , with perhaps more courage than e autionjhe strongly rtbuked the narrowmindedness of his opponents . But he paid dearly for his outspoken advocacy of our Order ; he had not a single supporter in the Synod , which by an

unanimous vote then and there deposed him from his pastorate . He had , however , gained the affecions of his flock , who would not submit to his deposition ; and he continued for three yeais to act as their ministe r . But at length the persecution to which he was now subjected was such that he felt compelled to resign , and return to his native land . And even there it has follove-ed him ! The persecutors

reported his case , accompanied by slanders of different kinds , to the bishop at Christiania , who now refuses to license him to any church , or to permit him to advance in anyway in his profession . I must say that I was greatly surprised to hear this , well knowing that in Sweden many Lutheran priests , and some of them eminent men , are ncmbers e f the . Craft . But Bro . Simonsen tells me

that in Norway there are but light priests who are Masons , as against about from one to two hundred in Sweden , and that these eight have not " come to grief " simply because their Masonry is somewhat " sub-ros , " while he has drawn elown the episcopal ire upon his devoted head by frankly defending- it , and still more by allowing a brother to publish his " Defence , " in a pamphlet .

Bro . Simonsen has come over to England with a view to circulate a translation of his pimphlet , and in the hope that by the sale of copies he may raise funds to enable him to live until something can be done to reinstate him in his positicn as a clergyman in the Norwegian Church ; a good brother in Christinnia having given him a free return ticket by one of the Hull steamers . I tell him that I d i not know that we can do much to

help him over here , but that the best thing I cm do for him ( after giving him some pecuniary assistance , which I would not mention except as an example ) is to ask you to make this case known by this letter . 1 have also tolJ him it is a great pity that he did not take his Third Degree before coming to England to seek admission into our lodges as a visiting brother . I will only atld that he is a married man , with a young family dependent on him . I remain , vours , faithfully and fraternally .

R . P . BENT , Past Grand Chaplain of England , and Canon of the Order of Kni ghts Templar in Sweden .

DR . HOPKINS' MASONIC CHARTS , & c . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I have several times drawn attention to the Masonic and Ecclesiastical charts , so beautifully drawn by the W . Bro . Dr . Henry Hopkins , P . Prov . S . G . W . of Warwickshire , & c , of 14 , Belvedere , Bath , not only

because of their great value and excellence as symbolical charts accurately and most artistically executed , but likewise because the proceeds of their sale were devoted to one or more of our " Great Masonic Charities . " This Dr . Hopkins had done for many years , until the cost of the materials being ultimately a considerable burden , he has of late years given one half of any profits for so good an

object . The charts are a marvel of skill and ingenuity , and just " brim full " of Masonic or Ecclesiastical suggestions , so much so that they have but to be seen to be admired and purchased . The piice , however—because of the time involved—did not bring them within the reach of some who could onlyadmite ; but now , happily , our brother has had them photographed by Messrs . J . and J . Dutton , of

Bath , and the charts can now be obtained at 3 s . each , or 2 S . each , according to the sizes required ( see advertisement ) . I shall be very pleased to be the medium of the sale of any of these gems of art and industry , or communications may be sent direct to Dr . Hopkins . As upwards of £ 100 have been devoted to our Charities through this means alone , it will readil y be seen that brethren can gratify their tastes and their benevolent proclivities at the same time . WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . Truro , April ist , 1879 .

THE GRAND LODGE OF IRELAND . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Although in no wise desirous of putting myself forward as the champion of the Grand Lodge of Ireland , I cannot allow your remarks regarding the Irish Grand Lod

ge balance sheet to pass without protesting against the manner in which you put the subject before our English brethren . You appear to take a leaf out of the books of those who sneer at everything Irish , which I cannot hel p thinking is scarcely in accordance with the principles laid down for your guidance , and if your Irish brethren are not educated enough to make out a balance sheet suffi-

Original Correspondence.

ciently clear to please fascidious England , let yours be the task to teach , not to ridicule . Yours fraternally , II . S . CAMPBELL , P . M . 95 . [ Our worthy brother is wrong , both in his premise and his conclusion , as far as we are concerned . Our good Irish brethren have no warmer admirers than ourselves . —ED . ]

To the Editor of the " Freemason . " D . ar Sir and Brother , — As an Irishman I most strenuously object to your remarks on the balance-sheet of the Grand Lodge of Ireland ; brotherly love does not seem to prevade the tone of your article , judging from the sneering allusions you make to the " Irish way " things are done , and the " Flemish account" vou would expect . Did you have an

inquiry ? Allow me to suggest you are in the position of the man in the glass house who threw stones . Look weil to the doings of your own Grand Lodge , and tickle the fancy of your English brethren by a few facetious remarks anent

the position assumeel by some of its late officers . The disbursements of Grand Lodge of Ireland may not be in accordance with your views , but Irishmen have yet to learn of anything detrimental to the cause of Masonry by one of its members . I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours fraternally .

A . H . SUNNER . [ We refer our impetuous brother to our editorial remark above . ]

To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I consider the " cutting" the Freemason so neatly is a great improvement , anil I have reason to believe that many agree with me in that statement , for it is a great convenience , and the paper keeps better for binding . One other change is still needed ( which has been pointed out

by my friend and Bro . Captain F . G . Irwin ) , and that is to keep all the adveitiscments on separate sheets , that may easily be detached and excluded from the part to be bound , We have wished the Freemason every health and happiness on its tenth birthday , and are glad to see that as its age increases its appearance continues to improve , which is more than can be raid of , Yours fraternally , WILLIAM JAMES HUGHAN . Truro , April ist , 1879 .

A QUERY . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Could you kindly give mc any information about Bolzaris Eustratius Kras , a P . M . in Liverpool before 1867 ,

and for many years a member of lodges under various degrees in that city , as to what lodges he belonged ? A line in the Freemason woulel greatly oblige , Yours fraternally , C . L . CONSTANT 1 U 5 , 1009 .

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Your weekly columns indicate that the lines of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite are not falling in pleasant places ; its paths are so tortuous , traversed and crossed as to lorm a labyrinth , from which the only escape

is by jumping the barriers . Many , unable to escape in any other way , have so vaulted over them , probably on the principle that repudiation of one oath , unwittingly taken , is better than constant perjuries . Some time ago a Sovereign Grand Inspector General , Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret , and Sovereign Prince , Rose Croix , of one of the Supreme Grand Councils of the Holy Empire , led me to

the top of one of the pinnacles of his temple , and directing my attention to a mirage , which he imagined , in his distempered fancy , to be a landscape of cities and kingdoms , said : " All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me . " I replied " Nay , not so , but I will view this landscape of mystery from the summit of the pyramid of Memphis , which embraces a prospect few

have comprehended , and those few Orientals , ami I will not defile myself by the worship of those who are marked with the mark and number of the beast . Listen to what a modern seer , who visited the temple of visions , whither we shall follow , has recorded of thee and thy Rite . " " His face was covered with pimples , such as accompany a burning fever , his eyes had a ferocious look , his breast

swelled out into a great prominence j from his mouth he belched forth fire , like a furnace , his loins seemed on fire ; in place of feet he had bony ankles without flesh ; and from his body there exhaled a foul and stinking heat . I was terrified at the sight of him , and cried nut , ' Approach no further , tell me whence you are ? ' He replied , in a hoarse tone of voice , ' I am from below , and live there in

a society of two hundred , which is the most super-excellent of all societies ; there we are all emperors of emperors , kings of kings , dukes of dukes , and princes of princes ; no one is barely an emperor , < r barely a king , duke , or prince . We are seated there on thrones of thrones , and thence dispatch our mandates over the whole world , and even beyond it . ' I then said to him , 'Do you not perceive that you are in a state of insanity , arising from the fantasy of

super-eminence ? ' He replied ' How can you talk in this manner , when ve absolutely seem to ourselves , and are also acknowledged by ourselves , to have such distinction ? ' " Verbum sap . To abandon abstruse sentiment , and to descend to facts and to plain things , which every one can comprehend . It seems that by the impulse of its own inordinate vanity the Rite is now at war within , itself in every quarter of the

Original Correspondence.

world . The latest disscntion has arisen in Canada , and I have just received from a brother , holding high degrees in the Ancient and Accepted Rite , a printed slip of a newspaper letter , which I send herewith for the indulgence of its insertion .

The writer ' s argument applies equally to this country . The Constitution of the Rite , Article 5 , Section 3 , provides : — " In each great nation of Europe , and in each kingdom or empiie , there shall be a single Conncil of the said degree . " Now England , Ireland , and Scotland form only one nation and one kingdom , namely , the British Nation and the United Kingdom , and is therefore only entitled to one

S . G . C ., and not three S . G . C . ' s , as at present existing . That of Ireland was formed August 13 , 1824 ; Scotland claims from 1814 , but this is doubtful , as other authorities only allow her to date from 1843 ! England , 1845 . Now leaving Ireland and Scotland to settle the point of priority between themselves , it is very certain that England was the latest constituted , and consequently , by establishing her

S . G . C ., has invaded the rights of either Scotland or Ireland ; therefore the English Supreme Grand Council of the Ancient and Accepted Rite must of necessity be a nullity , and is spurious for that reason , but also for others , and clandestine . Moreover , there is no escape , for the Constitution ( forged no donbt though it be ) ordains that it shall remain for ever the supreme law of the Rite . As Bro . Pike points out , every member has sworn to obey it , and hence so long

as these three councils continue separate every English member violates his oath , and puts himself as an honourable man outside his Rite . Whilst adopting a representive Constitution the Ancient and Primitive Rite , or Oriental Rite of Memphis , avoided such a mistake by obtaining a charter for the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , added to which it has degrees of great value in addition to its Knights Rose Croix and Royal Arch ceremonies . MEMPHIS .

ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOTTISH RITE IN CANADA . A question of very great importance to the members of this Kite in Canada has suggested itself to my mind from a careful study of the Constitutions of 1786 . The question is this . Are these Constitutions regarded b y members of the A . and A . S . Rite as the fundamental law of the Rite ? Dr . Mackey , in his admirable Encyclopaxlia of

Freemasonry , says most distinctly and emphatically that they are so regarded . Bro . Albert Pike , the Grand Commander of the Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction ot the U . S . —the mother Supreme Council of the world—published these Constitutions in 1872 , in Latin , French , and English , and in his exhaustive annotations respecting them says : " The Supreme Council of Charleston

( tormed in 1801 ) had a perfect right to adopt them as the law of the new Order , no matter where , when , or by whom ihey were made , as Anderson's Constitutions were adopted in Symbolic Masonry : that they are and always have been the law of the Rite , because they were so adopted , and because no man has ever lawfully received the Degrees of the Rite without swearing to maintain them as

its supreme law . " In view ol this testimony , so decidedly given , by the two most eminent and learned members of the Rite , I think that all interested must , without hesitation , acknowledge , that the Constitutions of 1786 are , and have always been , the supreme and fundamental law of the A . and the A . S . Rite . Let us now consider carefully one paiticular clause of the Constitutions , and the bearing

that it has upon the present position of Canadian members of the Rite . I refer to Article V . Section III ., which reads as follows : " In each of the Great Nations of Europe , whether Kingdom or Empire , there shall be but a single Supreme Council of the 33 rd Degree . In all those States and Provinces , as well of the Main land as of the Islands , whereof North America is composed , there

shall be Two Councils , one as great a distance as may be from the other . In all those States and Provinces also , whether of the Main land or the Islands , whereof South Ameiica is composed , there shall be Two Councils , one at as great a distance as possible from the other . Likewise , there shall be one only in each Empire , Supreme State , or Kingdom in Asia , Africa , & c , & c . " In the preamble it

is declared that "these Decrees are and for ever shall be the Constitutions , Statutes , and regulations , for the government of the hite , " consequently they cannot , by any authority whatever , be ever abrogated , altered , or changed . 1 think it must be held as an undeniable fact , that by the Constitutions of 1786 , unaltered and unalterable as they are , and binding upon every member of the

Rite , inasmuch as he has solemnly sworn to observe them in their integrity , that two Supreme Councils , and two only , can legally exist in North America , and that if more than that number should have been inadvertently created , that those in excess of the two first are of necessity illegal , and are in fact nullities , Unfortunately there are now more than two Supreme Councils in North America

there are three , to my certain knowledge , and possibly may Le more , as , for all I know to the contrary , Mexico and the Central American States may claim to possess one each . Those of which I have information are as follows : first , the S . C . of the Southern Jurisdiction of the U . S ., dating from 1801 . Second , the S . C . of the Northern Jurisdiction of the U . S ., dating from 1815 . Third , the

S . C . of the Dominion of Canada , dating from 1874 . The S . C . of the Northern Jurisdiction has authority over only fifteen States , which were specially given up to it by the S . C . of the Southern Jurisdiction , which claims the remainder of the States , on account of its priority of origin , amongst which States are Iowa , Minnesota , and California .

As it has been proved that only two Supreme Councils can legally exist in Noith America , and as it is certain that the two legal councils are those of the Southern and Northern Jurisdiction ot the U . S ., it behoves Canadians , claiming to be members of the A . and A . S , Rite . 14 con-