Table Of Contents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS .

PAGJ

REVIEWSThc History and Development of Gilds , and the Origin of Trade Unions ... ... ... 277 ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES 277 NOTHING TO ISE GAINED 277 MASONRY IN BUENOS AYRES 278 PLEAD BEFORE TIIY FATHER ' S THRONE 27 S LAVING FOUNDATION STONES AT LEICESTER ... 27 S

FREEMASONRY IN THE ISLE OF MAN 279 PROV . GRAND LODGE OF BERKS AND BUCKS ... 2 S 0 THE CRAFTMetropolitan ... ... ... ... . ... 280 Middlesex 280 Provincial ... ... ... ... ... 2 S 0 ROYAL

ARCHProvincial ... ... ... ... ... 281 INSTRUCTIONScotland 281 ORDERS OF CHIVALRYRed Cross of Rome and Constantine ... ... 2 S 1 Knights Templar ... 2 S 1 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES AND DEATHS 282

THE ANTIQUITY OF THE CRAFT 282 MUI . TUM IN PARVO ... ... 2 S 3 OBITUARYBro . Thomas Wescombe 283 Bro . John Harvey Boys ... ... ... 2 S 3 CONSECRATION OF A NEW LODGF . AT TOPSHAM ... 284

FREEMASONRY IN EGYPT 2 S 5 J OTTINGS FROM MASONIC J OURNALS 285 THE FREEMASONS' LIFEBOAT 286 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE 286 & . 2 S 7 THE LEGEND OF J URAL 2 S 7 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 2 S 7

Reviews.

Reviews .

0 The History and Development of Gilds , and the Origin of Trades Unions ; by LujO BRENTANO , Doctor of Laws and Philosophy . Triibner & Co ., 60 ,

Paternosterrow . ( Concluded from page 24 \ . ) We cannot better finish our review of this admirable work than by quoting Dr . Brentano ' s concluding remarks , with Mr . Furnivall ' s note annexed r—

" I shall be satisfied now if I have proved that the spread of disorder called forth at once in each single trade Gild-like organizations of those suffering by it , to maintain the old order , or to create a new one . I

wish only further to point to the fact that the English , among whom tlie old Gilds probably originated , have in this new movement again preceded all other nations . As each new political era has begun in England

—whether they were barons who wrung from King John the Magna Charta Libcrtatum , or the middle-classes who , in the seventeenth century , obtained here first the dominion in

the State—so the era of the working-classes comes first to development on English soil . And as in the earlier Middle Ages from the days of Charlemagne the Frith-Gilds , and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

the Craft-Gilds , so now the Trade-Unions will be thc great engines for obtaining the sway . Already since 1824 they have enjoyed a kind of recognition ; and already they have fought contests quite as fierce as ,

if not fiercer than , those of the old craftsmen against the patricians . Thc history of their sufferings since the end of the eighteenth century , and of the privations endured for their independence , is a real record of

heroism . It is only to be hoped that now , when they are free from all legal restrictions , they may use only—instead of the arms of violence , which belong to former times—the legal means which belong to our days , and

which are thrown open to them by thc franchise . May the English working-men , like the English bavous and middle-classes in former times , be a bright example in the attainment of freedom to their brethren on the

Continent ! "P . S . Attention may be called to the 'History of . ' the Holy Trinity Guild at Sleaford [ in Lincolnshire ] , with an account of its Miracle-Plays , Religious Mysteries ,

Reviews.

and Shows , as practised in the Fifteenth Century , ' & c , by the Rev . G . Oliver , D . D ., Lincoln , 1837 . 5 s . The account of the Gild—a Social or Religious Gild—is

provokingly meagre , and the amount of talk in the book very great ; but it states , at p . 50 , that an ancient MS . Compotus Book belonging to the Gild was then in the possession of Dr . Yerburgh , the Vicar ; and that it

ranges from A . D . 1477 to 1545 , when the Gild was dissolved at the Reformation , though two later informal entries in 1585 and 1613 are made in it . I have sent inquiries after this book . Dr . Yerburgh ' s

History of Sleaford may contain further information about this Gild . Dr . Oliver , at p . 52 , note 20 , states the income of the Sleaford Gild at £ § 0 , while that of the three

principal Gilds at Boston was less , the Gild of Corpus Christi there being valued at £ ^ 2 , that of the Virgin at £ 24 , and that of St . Peter and St . Paul at £ \ 0 3 s . —F . J . F . "

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

ANCIENT AND MODERN MYSTERIES .

Bv BRO . ROBERT WENTWORTH LITTLE , Provincial Grand Secretary , Middlesex ; President oj ihe London Literary Union ; Editor of " The Rosicrttcianf &* c . ( Continued from page 231 . ) The Assassins continued for many years to

exercise the power derived from the terror with which they were regarded by all men ; but , at length , their great stronghold , Alamoot , was captured , and tlie leading chiefs put to the

sword . During their horrible career the Assassins were several times brought in contact with the Knights Templar , of whom I shall have occasion to write when more at leisure , and it appears that the sect of Isma'ilites is even now in existence

botli in Syria and Persia . " But , " to again quote " Secret Societies , " " like that of the Anabaptists , it has lost its terrors , and the Ismailite doctrine is now merely one of the speculative heresies of Islam . The Syrian Isma'ilites dwell

in eighteen villages around Massyat , and pay an annual sum of 16 , 500 piastres to the Governor of Hania , who nominates their sheik or emir . They are divided into two sects or parties , the Sooweidanee , so named from one of their former

sheiks , and the Khisrewee , so called on account of their great reverence for Kliiser , the guardian of the Well of Life . They are all externally rigid observers of the precepts of Islam , but they are said to believe in the divinity of Ali , in the

uncreated light as the origin of all things , and in the sheik Rasheed ed-deen Sinan as the last representative of God upon earth . " The Persian Isma'ilites dwell chiefly in Roodbar , but they are met all over the East , and even

appear as traders on the banks of the Ganges . Their imam , whose pedigree they trace up to Ismail , the son of Jaaffer-es-Sadik , resides , under the protection of the Shah of Persia , at the village of Khekh , in the district of Koom . As ,

according to their doctrine , he is an incarnate ray of the Divinity , they hold him in the utmost veneration , and make pilgrimages from the most distant places to obtain his blessing . " We have thus traced the origin , the growth

and the decline of this formidable society , only to be paralleled by that of the Jesuits in extent of power and unity of plan and purpose . Unlike this last , however , its object was purely evil , and

its career was one of blood ; it has therefore left no deeds to which its apologists might appeal in its defence . Its history , notwithstanding , will always form a curious and instructive chapter in that of the human race . "

I reserve for future papers various notes which I have collected respecting the Templars , the Fehm-gerichte , the Rosicrucians , tlie Inquisitors ,

the Jesuits , Carbonari , and other mysterious associations down to the present day , and may explain that , as what I have written under this head was originally only intended for the " Rosi-

Ancient And Modern Mysteries.

crucian , " a quarterly magazine , I have found it impossible to spare time for a regular weekly contribution . The second part of my remarks under the head

of " Ancient and Modern Mysteries will therefore take the shape of occasional notes to be supplied as the various demands on my time will best admit .

Nothing To Be Gained.

NOTHING TO BE GAINED .

[ From the " American Masonic Mirror "for May . ] A few modern writers upon Masonry are en gaged in the profitless task of labouring to prove that Masonry , as an Order , dates back only to the year 1717 . That its ancient traditions are

mythical . That its hoary aspect is all assumed . That imillions of Masons , including the most wise and learned men the earth has ever produced , have lived and died believing firmly in a hallucination , which these modern wiseacres seek

to explore . AVe do not intend to enter into an unprofitable controversy upon this subject ; our traditions require no defence . If deceived , we are happy in our ignorance ; and do not propose to change

our views upon this subject upon the presentation of other conjectures advanced in controversion of the history of Masonry , which , according to their own admissions , has been held as correct by the wise and learned for one hundred and

fifty years , at least . But supposing these men should succeed in convincing themselves , and their readers , and that we have been for one hundred and fifty years the victims of deception , and that

Masonry is not that ancient institution we have firmly believed it to be , but of comparatively modern date—what has been gained by this partially successful attempt to rob the institution

of its hoary character and jancient traditions ? Suppose it could be satisfactorily proven that the Order had its birth in the year 1717 , and it came forth full fledged at that date—who or what could receive the least benefit from any such

demonstration ? Is it not rather akin to the insane

attempts that have been made from time to time to bring the Great Light of Masonry , the Holy Bible , intodisrepute by futile attempts to discredit its authenticity ? Supposing that poor frail man should succeed , to the satisfaction of his puny

judgment , in proving that the Bible was not what is claimed for it—that instead of its being the Word of God , it is only a modern book of man ! What has the world gained ? What has poor man gained thereby ? What rather has he

not lost—and what has not the world lost ? Take away this Great Light , the only light that penetrates " beyond the veil , " and what is there left for man ? Take from man the hope of a future life , and this world would be a dreary

existence indeed . What would the few fleeting years of disappointment , misery , suffering , and pain , mixed with a small portion of earthly happiness , doled out in sparing quantities , amount to ? Take away all hope of the future life , and

hope itself would be blotted out , and the world become a carnival of crime , and mankind one great , mad suicide . The Bible is the world ' s sheet anchor . On it the world ' s hopes are based . It is a book containing the best and

most holy precepts . It teaches of the life to come . It is the only source of food for a craving soul . It is a book of the most perfect laws , the most sublime poetry , and most ancient history . It meets the wants of our spiritual

natures , and to it let us cling , as the best we have in this world ; the only compass on the sea of life ; our only chart of the haven to which we are all hastening ; our moral and Masonic trestle board , Yes , better cling to it though we

know it to be of human origin ! Why will man insanely attempt to put out this great Light , in whose wake follow civilisation , refinement , education , morality , and our bright hopes of a

better life , when nothing is to be gained thereby , but everything to be lost ? There is a class of men whose unsatisfied natures are never at ease ; who deem it their province to be for ever pulling down instead of