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creased itself" by 21 , s Sgnew houses , 401 new streets , and two new squares ; a total length of 71 miles 468 yards . In 1 S 6 9 there were 1912 articles deposited at the Lost Property Office , in 1 S 79 , 15 , 514 ; a very gratifying increase . It seems that among the

injuries in the streets , which seem very serious , during the last ten years , light carts are responsible for 190 killed and 7962 maimed ; waggons , drays , and vans for 474 killed and 51 , 444 injured j cabs for

126 killed and 6039 injured ; and omnibuses and cars for 151 killed and 1655 injured . We repeat that the whole ] report deserves to be carefully perused .

* * As remarks are sometimes made that nothing is done by the police , we think it right to call attention to the recent report of Mr . C . E . HOWARD VINCENT , the Director of Criminal Investigation

at Scotland Yard , for 1 S 79 , and who , we understand , is a member of our Fraternity . It seems by that , that 23 , 585 cases were reported , 140 more than in 1 S 7 S . Rather more than one-fifth of the value of the property stolen , £ 22 , 460 , was

recovered by the Police , and the difference in the specific gravity of loss amounted to £ 58 , 160 , that is less than in 1 S 78 . Four-fifths were thus irrecoverable . Apprehensions amounted to 13 , 128 , an increase of 599 over 1878 . Apprehensions for

burglary , owing , no doubt , mainly to thc large number of empty houses , rose in 1879 to 28 . 28 from 14 . 61 in 1878 , breaking into shops to 25 . 82 , from 12 . 25 . This , we confess , appears an unaccountable fact , and we should like to have it , if it

be possible , explained . Larceny from the person increased also from 4 8 . 83 to 59 . 72 . The officers of the Criminal Investigation Department arrested 4862 persons , of whom 64 . 70 per cent , were

convicted . There were 121 officers commended for " special skill . " 27 persons were surrendered on extradition warrants and 2 received . It appears to us that the complaints of the inactivity of the Metropolitan Police are in no sense justified .

* * * IT seems that the famous Neanderthal skull which was exhibited by Professor SCHAAFENHAUSEN from Rome , at the meeting of the Anthropological Section of the British Association , and was found in

the Rhine Valley in 1 S 57 , between Dusseldorf and Elberfeld , is not the " missing link , " after all . Professor ROLLESTO . V seems clearly to have pointed out and proved to the excited assembly of listening " savants " that it was the skull of a savage man

about fifty years old . As far as wc arc concerned we do not profess to believe in the " missing link , " and beg respectfull y before hand to " denige" the " soft impeachment " of Simian ancestors , and to repudiate for our common humanity such " cross breeding" and such " bad breeding " altogether .

Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

[ We elo not hold ourselves responsible for , or even nnproving nf , the opinions expressed liy onr correspondents , hut we wish in a spirit of fair play to all , to permit—within certain nee-essarv limits—free discussion . ]

A QUOTATION ' . To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — Allow me to inform " Frater Scholasticus " that the line to which he alludes is not to be found in Ovid at all . The true reading is

"Incidis in Scyllam cupiensvitare Charybdin ;" though more frequently quoted as "Incidit in Scyllam tjui vultvitare Charybdin . " The line is taken from the Alexandras , a Latin poem written in the thirteenth century by Philip Gualtier de Lille . It may perhaps interest some of your readers if I give thc context , which is as follows : —

. Quo tcndis mertem , Rex penture , fugam ? Nescis lieu , perdite , nescis Quern fugias ; beistesincurris , elum fugis hostcm . ti \\ r 1 " , " \ y " » cupiens vitare Charybdin . " H ; 1 li Tu * l l I ' less U > "S . d ° ' thou direct thy unavailing £ : t ( rh ° '" lowest not , alas ! O doomed one , thou knoi \ est not from whom to flee : thou ni . shr . st Into th ,

S lest n JsIS"e > M ^ , " , U flccSt from a " ene"iy- Thou n !* ff . . , " . 'V ,, lc dcsil ' in ! J u < avoid Charybdis . " In ™ r ' " ' , ' • • qui vt . lt , & c ., " arose , fiEJf cT ' ° " a "' Sh t 0 ffive the line , when separated from its context , a more general meaning , and the appearance of a proverbial saying , which , in fact , it has noiv become . I am , dear Sir and Brother , yours fraternally ,

c . . lt c „ " C . LEVANDER . September 4 th , 1 SS 0 . [ Our impression certainly was that it came from old Ovid . but we have been a long while from school . It certainly used to be so attributed in the Grnrlus . May not Gualtier de der ' s iT r nn are much obli s ,- 'd by Bro- Levan-

Original Correspondence.

FREEMASONRY IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE . To the Editor of the "Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — I am sorry that any statements of mine in the brief sketch I gave a fortnight since of Freemasonry in Cambridgeshire should have caused pain to any brethren in that county , or connected with one or more of its lodges . But if these brief delineations of the rise , progress , and condition of the Craft in different parts of England are to

possess any value , they must be trustworthy , and they cannot be trustworthy if , in all cases , I bestow unqualified praise , or , in one case , bestow praise where blame is due , and in another blame where praise is due . I am willing to accept correction from Bro . Rev . J . S . Brownrigg when he is in a position to disturb the facts I have placed on record in connection with Cambridgeshire—not from any desire to wound any one's feelings , but rather with a laudable desire

to excite brethren to a greater degree of " zeal and activity" in the cause of the Craft . If Bro . Brownrigg will be at the trouble of reading the first paragraph of my article again , he will see that I assumed the Cambridgeshire lodges worked pretty much to the same extent as the lodges in other provinces . 1 am willing to accept his statementindeed , I should have been surprised hael it not been in his power to make such a statement—that in thc Isaac Newton

University Lodge they " make , pass , and raise in the year more Masons" than are " made , passed , and raised by all the lodges in many provinces . " 1 trill also allow , if only from a desire to please everybody all round , and Bro . Rev . J . S . Brownrigg in particular , that " the other Cambridgeshire lodges can defend themselves , " if need be . But having conceded this , 1 must still hesitate to affirm that among the Cambridgeshire Masons "there is any very serious

amount of zeal and activity . 'Ihese qualities are not commonly illustrated by the fulfilment of ordinary duties which must be fulfilled , or the lodges would fall into abeyance . Now , though 1 admire the zeal , activity , and great abilities of Bro . John Deighton , P . G . D ., who is the D . G . Master and G . Superintendent , Royal Arch , of the province , am I prepared to allow that these excellent attributes of his are sufficient of themselves to redeem the province

from the shortcomings I have ascribed to it . Had he been Cambridgeshire , I should hardly have knoivn how to extol it too highly . But " zeal and activity" are not shown to exist generally among a body of brethren , because one of its most prominent members is admittedly zealous and active , or , as I have said already , because the regular

duties of thc lodges are discharged regularly , but when the good example is followed , and the lodges do something more than is required of them . However , I will content myself with pointing out one or two matters of some importance , and if Rev . Bro . Brownrigg can correct them , I will withdraw all I have said about the absence of " zeal and activity " among the Cambridgeshire brethren .

1 . There are only too provinces in the whole of England in which , in the period embracing the last nineteen yearsthat is from 1 S 61 to 1 SS 0—there has been no accession of strength to Freemasonry . These arc Herefordshire and Cambridgeshire . The youngest lodge in each of these provinces was warrantee ! in 1 S 61 . I am not prepared to say the addition of new lodges to the strength of a province is always an unmixed good , or that it invariably testifies

to increased strength and influence , but considering the impetus which has been given to the Craft since thc rank of Past Grand Master was conferred on the Prince of Wales , and especially since his acceptance of thc Grand Mastership on the resignation of the Marquis of Ripon , it is strange that not one of the 5 G 0 new lodges , which havc been warranted since the beginning of 1 S 70 , should have been added to tbe roll oi Cambridgeshire . Cambridge is well

off with its three lodges , and Wisbeach has one lodge , but there are other places in the county where it might fairly be expected Freemasonry would readily find a home . 1 may further remark that in thc twenty-four years that elapsed between 1 S 36 , the year in which ' No . 441 , the Lodge of the Three Grand Principles , was constituted , and 1 S 60 , the natal year of thc United Gooel Fellowship , No . Sog , Wisbeach , one lodge , the School of Plato , No . 3 GG , became defunct ,

while , as far as I havc been able to trace , no other lodge was founded . Thus in the long period of forty-four years , or little shortof half-a-century , there has been a net addition to the strength of Cambridgeshire of one lodge , one lodge having died , and two baying been constituted . Is the Rev . Bro . Brownrigg prepared to assert it betokens " zeal anel activity " on the part of Cambridgeshire when its youngest lodge was consecrated in May , 1 SC 1 , or more than nineteen

years ago ? 2 . It has come to be the rule now-a-days to judge of the interest a province takes in the concerns of Freemasonry b y the part it plays at the anniversary festivals of our different Institutions . In thc six years which have elapsed since the Marquis of Ripon resigned and the Prince of Wales accepted the ofiice of Grand Master , there have been eighteen such gatherings , and it will be better ,

perhaps , if I say as little as possible about the number of occasions on which this province has been represented . Let it suffice that , as between the two University provinces , while Oxon has made it a rule to be almost invariably present , Cambridgeshire has been almost as invariably absent . Again 1 ask the Rev . Bro . Brownrigg , does this repeated absence of the latter betoken even a moderate amount of zeal anel activity on the part of its members ? Is this

creditable to a province which can boast of so worthy a Deputy Grand Master as Bro . Deighton , ,-md so strongand influential a lodge as thc Isaac Newton University ? Thus far I havc confined myself to facts which cannot be gainsaid . I might go further , and ask how it is , if there is so much zeal and activity in the province , wc never hear anything abeiut its doings ? We constantly read of what is passing in other provinces , not only in the columns of the

Masonic press , but in those of local and other journals , but no one ever seems to know anything about Cambridge Freemasonry . But for Granel Lodge calendar anil the returns to Grand Lodge even its very existence might be called in question . I thank Bro . R . F . G . for his information . I felt suro I

had seen mention of one somewhere , and hence my qualified statement . I will also add that the Cambridge New Lodge , founded in 1 71 J . -5 , as No . 515 , and the School of Plato Lodge , No . :, < si "> , which some twenty years ago " fell into decay and exists no longer , " or , to be more precise , which was erased by Grand Lodge in September , 1 S 59 , were one and the same lodge . THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE .

Original Correspondence.

THE GATHERING OF KNIGHTS TEMPLAR AT CHICAGO .

To the Editor of the " Freemason . " Dear Sir and Brother , — The event , foreshadowed in my last , has passed into history , and the materials for description are now to be gathered up . As I had agreed to make a volume to comprise the chronicles of thc affair , my part in the ceremonial

has been that of a looker-on , a snapper-up of unconsidered trifles , and a collector of documents . 1 have furnished the press , both of Chicago and many of our larger cities , news from day to day of the preparation and progress , and now will fulfil my pledge to give you somewhat thereof . The appearance of some 300 organised bodies of Templar Knights coming , many of them from very distant points ( Georgia , California , Texas , New Hampshire , and the

like ) is not to be looked upon with indifference , or sneered at as trivial and useless . There must be in the motive something noble to lead to such an undertaking . The pride of the organisation , the love of display , emulation in numbers , drill , & c , will not altogether explain the undercurrent that has led to such heavy expense , great trouble , some suffering in consequence of the extraordinary waveheats that have affected us the past week , and serious loss

of time . Asked frequently questions upon this , my reply is that the main inducement is social . The desire to exchange salutations with old friends and to form new ones has seemed to me the principal incentive , and in conversation with Templars accustomed to these gatherings , their pleasantest memories are not of feasts and parades , but o £ the enlarged and enlarging circle of acquaintances . Such was the conclusion of a London gentleman with whom I

was conversing to-day , and he threw out an observation which might be worth the attention of your readers , viz ., "If British and Irish Templars would meet in this way , at stated intervals , and shake hands , and make acquaintances , and rub of national excrescences , it would do more than parliamentary commissions to bring about good feelintrs

among the Craft of England , Scotland , and Ireland . " The statistics of our great gathering of the past week are not yet made up . My own estimate ( made roughly , but upon much experience ) is that we had 25 , 000 Templar Knights in the city , and in the procession at its outset about 15 , 000 . I shall be able during the fall to procure from the actual lists the numbers very " nearly approximating to exactness .

flic worst drawback , and thc one which led to all the failures that have been enumerated , was the terrible and unexpected heat . For several weeks previous the weather was all that could be desired , the days not oppressive , the nights cool and charming . Even the day preceding the public display was cool and comfortable , but on the morning of the 17 th there came from some quarter a succession of heat-waves which drove the mercury above the 100 , and

brought consternation to the managers . The uniform of the American Templars is of black cloth , the coat padded , and buttoned close . The chapeau is black and heavy , and surmounted with a white ostrich plume . The gauntlets and cuffs are of heavy material . The baldrich is heavy , and the sword sheath of metal . Dressed in that manner , and set . in dense array for public review , your readers will not wonder that manv old men

and feeble men succumbed to the influence . An ambulance corps with a good medical staff had been provided , and so prompt and proper were the restoratives , that although scores of men fell or staggered from the column , and a number of sunstrokes arc reported , of the 25 , 000 none have died , save one unfortunate Knight ( Mr . Migan ) , who left his home in ill-health , and only reacheei Chicago to die . Giving to this fearful heat the nights were sultry , and the

city during the 17 th and iSth almost insupportable . On the ifjth a heavy shower of rain brought relief , and to-day the weather is delightful . The legislation of the Grand Encampment was completed in three days , and cannot be said to present any features of much importance , lt was generally felt that the Constitution under which this organisation has advanced to such a height of prosperity needs no tinkering . That is certainly the opinion of your correspondent , who , in 1 S 5 G , drafted

the Constitution , under which with few changes the Order has worked ever since . The officers elect are men who will do honour to the cause . The Grand Treasurer , Simons , has held the purse since 1859 , was elected , and so was the Grand Recorder , Parvin , one of the best , if not the very best , men in that line of duty this country has ever produced . Resembling your own amiable Hervey in sweetness of temper , he has abilities of his own in making up the

ofhcial records of the various institutions that he serves . As the head of the Order we have chosen a Boston Massachusetts man , Hon . Benjamin Dean , a member of the American Congress and a gentleman of much social standing . The same may be said of his Deputy , Withers , of Virginia , a Senator in Congress . But I will see that you are furnished with printed lists of the entire roster . It was a feature of the proceedings of thc past week that

the theatres were opened , steamboats hired , the great Exposition Building turned into a ball-room , expensive fireworks displayed , and all possible means of amusement provided for the Templars , and all made free to them . The great cicy for many miles of streets was decorated in a handsome and costly manner . More than 100 bands of music , mostly adjuncts to the Commanderies , paraded the streets by day and night—the nights noisy

with serenades . Some of these bands were among the best in America , and engaged , of course , at correspondingly great cost . Among thc incidents of the week were two , which , because the Press could pay but slight attention to them , shall be named here . One was an anti-Masonic Convention . ' Yes , in a public hall , open to all , heralded by extensive advertising , some fifty men and women came together to

express their abhorrence of all secret societies , and parties larly Freemasonry . These views have been so often expressed here in Chicago , where there is an organ of anti-Masonry , styled the Christian Cynosure , that but few persons were curious enough to attend . The other incident , which will strike thc attention of your readers , is the regular Triennial Convention of the General

Grand Chapter of the Order of thc Eastern Star—that is , the androgynous system , or " ladies' Masonry , " sometimes socalled . Differing , as many elo from us , as to the propriety of such a system , yet the matter of fact may have place in your columns , viz ., delegates were here from twenty-five States representing about 200 organisations of the kind named . Your correspondent had most enjoyable confer-