Original Correspondence.

Original Correspondence .

The Editor is not responsible for the opinions expressed by Correspondents . THE BADGE OF FREEMASONRY .

( To the Editor of The Freemason . ) DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I was pleased with Bro . Baton ' s historical account on page 49 , of the Golden Fleece , and should be glad to learn from

our learned Masons the original ofthe white apron trimmed with blue ribbons . The only reason I ever have read about it , and I should like to ascertain the truth of it , is that it originates from the Jews '

rbtt " garment , " worn by them in the synagogue at prayer—white trimmed with blue . I will not trouble your readers with the whole of the Rabbinical writings about this " garment , " but to enable me to bring before them this subject , how it originated from the Jews , I must first give the scriptural

account why the Israelites were commanded to wear a garment trimmed with blue . I must remind your readers that the Jews were forbidden by the Mosiac law to wear garments of a mingled nature ( as linen and wool ) , and no doubt that in those hot climents their dress consisted of

pure white linen . The priests had to wear white linen dresses . Now , if we look to the book of Numbers , xv . 38 , 39 , we find , " Speak unto the children of Israel , and bid them that they make them fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generation , and that they put upon the fringe ofthe border

ran 7 MiD riband of blue ; and it shall be unto you for a fringe that ye may look upon it , and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them . " Wc see from the above why this ribbon of blue

had to be put on their garments : it was to remind them of God and his commandments . In a passage in the Talmud one Rabbi gives a reason why the colour blue was commanded , which I think is a good reason , and may be true . I will trouble your readers with the quotation : — •¦ m ? warn "wo rtan bv vm th **

iyQ bm rhir \ nantw rra TOI *^ * VN & TOTT en , wh rrovr rhin & " SBB ? p"ijax nn « : ^ -roan wsh nnn jrp-n , wirb mwas vbn nnn ^ fcnttPV & NriN'iNTi

. 'vrtab antr > n DSW TDDH rvy 4 But how is the thread of blue inferred ? Because Rabbi Myer hath said , the reason why blue should be distinguished from all other colours , because blue is the colour of the sea , the sea is the colour of the skv . and the skv is the colour of the throne

of glory , for it is said ( Ex . xxiv ) : ' And they saw the Lord God of Israel , and there was under his feet , as it were , a paved work of sapphire stone , and as it were the body of heaven in His clearness . ' " Here , the probable reason that the colour blue was intended to direct the attention of the true

Israelites to the heavens , and to the Creator ofthe same . Here , probably , also is the very same reason why aprons , while , trimmed with blue , are worn by Masons : to remind every true M . M . of his duty to the G . A . O . T . U ., and to his brother Masons .

If M . M . aprons originated from the command given by God to the Israelites , they arc really more ancient than the Golden Fleece , move honourable than the Star and Garter , and no Mason ought ever to disgrace that badge , as it was the case with the Israelites when our Lord said to them ,

( Set- Matt , xxiii . 5- ) Yours fraternally , Clapham , S . W . D . STOLZ

MASONIC BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION . ( To the Editor of The Freemason ) . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —I was very pleased with your article in Tin-: FREEMASON on January 15 , " A Plea for the Aged . " I believe it has already done good by the Festival account . I feci confident

if half the energy was displayed in giving information and soliciting subscriptions as is used in aid of the Boys' and Girls' Institutions a very different state of things would be brought about ; but such is not the case , and the consequence is that nobody seems to know anything about " the old men anil women , " as thev are termed , while lhe bovs and

girls are brought up as gentlemen and lathis . Not that I object to the latter , but let those who have helped on the cause , both with body and purse , be the first to have the benefit when they are in a position to require it . 1 think there is no need lo hoard i / p so much money for the future . I am informed the whole of the donations are funded , and the subscriptions alone spent for the benefit of the

Original Correspondence.

Institutions , if this is the case I think it wrong . I have great faith in the principles of Masonry , and I believe our successors will be quite ready to take their share of the responsibilities of the future . Let us look after the comforts of the present brethren and widows of brethren , and if we can put by a

surplus after doing that , by all means do it , but not punish those that we know in order to benefit aftcr generations . I sincerely hope , now you have taken the case in hand , your powerful advocacy will bring about a new era . 1 should have attended the Festival but was prevented by illness . I must now

state , in conclusion , that I prove my sincerity by my acts : I subscribed to the Boys' School five guineas this year , I am also a Life Governor of the Aged Benevolent Institution , and intend to subscribe a guinea a year in future . Trusting your strenuous efforts in the cause of our noble Institutions will

meet with a noble reward , I subscribe myself , Yours faithfully and fraternally STRICT JUSTICE .

HURAM ABIF . ( To the Editor of The Freeniasoti ) , SIR , —The object of your correspondent , H . M ., who writes of Hiram Abij"in THE FREEMASON of February 5 th , is greatly to be respected , as is also the spirit in which he writes , but I fear that his

attempt to justify the use of the name Hiram Abif , by reference to the German and Swedish versions ofthe Bible is of little value in face ofthe Hebrew text . I do not clearly comprehend what H . M . means where he says " our translators have endeavoured to render Hebrew names into equivalent

English terms , rendering in one place ' Iliiram , his father , ' ' Ilurain , my father , ' whereas the German and Swedish versions have , in many instances , adopted them as proper names . " It would have been well if H . M . had specified the passages in which this has been done in the English version .

I know of no such passages , nor of any such rendering . Our translators do not , so far as I know , render the name of Huram or Hiram ( it being written with theyod in Kings , and with the van in Chronicles ) either "Hiram , my father , " or"Huram , his father ; " but simply Hiram and Huram , as a

proper name . As it is in the Hebrew , the phrases Hiram abi and lluram abin , which occur in 2 Chronicles 11 ., 13 ( in I-Icb . 12 ) and iv . 16 , add nothing to the name of Hiram or Huram ; it is simply "Huram , his father , " in Chronicles , and "Hiram , my father , " in Kings . Hiram , King of

Tyre , says to Solomon : " And now I have sent a cunning man , endowed with understanding of Huram , my fathers , the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan , and his father a man of Tyre , " & c . This cunning or skilful man ' s name was also Huram or Hiram , and so he is designated in the

only four or five passages in the Hebrew and English Bibles . But if H . M . could find Hiram Abif in the Hebrew Bible , I fear that he would fail in finding anything to show that he was a Master Mason , which H . M . must bc as desirous to do as to find him called

by that name . The building of the temple seems to have been completed , so far as the structure itself was concerned , without the aid of this cunning or skilful man—the widow ' s son , who was not , as appears , a mason , but an artist . Solomon asked the King of Tyre to send him " a man skilful to work

in gold , and in silver and in brass , in iron , and in purple , in blue , and in line linen , and in crimson ; also to grave any manner of graving , and to find out every device which shall be put to him with the cunning men that arc with 111 c in Judah and in Jerusalem , whom David , my father , did provide" ( 2

Chron 11 ., 8 ) . He was the artificer , and devised , 01 rather directed and superintended , the decorations ofthe temple and its beautiful and symbolic furniture ; and his work is specifically enumerated in 2 Chron . iv ., 11-16 , and 1 Kings VIL , 40-45 . Am I then denying that Hiram was a Mason

and a Master Mason ? I am certainly denying that wc have any scriptural authority for deeming him to have been such , and 1 believe that all we have about him in the Bible points in another direction . But am I therefore , weakening the foundation , or removing one of the landmarks of Masonry ? I think not . 1 take the legend of Hiram Abif to be one of those

beautiful legends and allegorical stories on which much of the sublime leaching of our Order is based , and I no more believe it lo be literally true , than I believe that Solomon , King of Israel , Hiram , King of Tyre , and Hiram Abif , held the second Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the bosom of the holy Mount Moriali .

What , then , is this legend of Hiram Abif , and what its symbolical meaning ? That must be reserved for another communication , if you do me lhe favotu to publish lliis . WILLIAM CARPENTER .

IHE LARI . OK LIMERICK was installed as E . C . of the Faith and Fidelity Encampment of K . T . at Freemasons' Tavern on the 31 st ult .

Bro. Jacob Norton And The "Prov. Grant Master Of America."

BRO . JACOB NORTON and the "PROV . GRANT MASTER of AMERICA . "

Bv BRO . WILLIAM J AMES HUGHAN , P . M . 131 , and Prov . Grand Secretary for Cornwall , & ° c . I have carefully read the long and

interesting letter by Bro . Jacob Norton , respecting the appointment of Henry Price , as Prov . Grand Master of New England , A . D . 1733 , and of North America , 1735 . The enquiry this indefatigable Mason has

entered upon is involved in much difficulty and uncertainty , and one requiring much patient investigation and research . In Bro . Norton we have these capabilities , and we may anticipate that success will likely

crown his efforts . The limits of the enquiry are already narrowing under his diligent investigation , and we hope that the light

he now seeks from the records of the Grand Lodge of England will be forthcoming , or at least something definite and final will soon result from this examination .

One thing is certain : Bro . Henry Price was wrong in stating in his letter ( dated 27 th Jan ., 1768 , ) to Bro . Samuel Spencer , Grand Secretary , that the first deputation " ever issued to any part of America , " was

A . D . 1733 , and that to himself ; for in the Constitutions of A . D . 1738 , 1756 , 1769 , & c , the appointment of Mr . Daniel Cox , for New Jersey , in America , is recorded under the Grand Mastership of the Duke of

Norfolk , m 1729 . The Grand Sec . died soon after May 176 S . On the 28 th October of the same year Thomas French was invested with the collar of that important office , and replied to Henry Price the month after ,

reminding him of the appointment of Robert Tomlinson , as Prov . Grand Master for New England , America , and that therefore , his proper time to have made a complaint was immediately after such

appointment became known . It seems to us that a mistake might have possibly occurred , and the name of Bro . Price , not have been properly registered A . D . 1733 , but we cannot sec how William Reid , Grand Secretary

A . D . 1733 , and John Rcvis , Grand Secretary A . D . 1735 , could both fall into the same error , for Bro . Prince says his commission was extended to all North America A . D . 1735 , and yet neither the original

appointment nor the extension of authority arc registered in the records , or noticed in any edition of the Constitutions from A . D . 1738

to 1769 , although a slight reference is made in the Constitutions A . D . 1784 ( but not authoritative ) , after which date the list of deputations was discontinued .

In the latter edition the name of Henry Price simply occurs under the heading of Provincial Grand Masters , and is never in any other way acknowledged . In the Constitutions of A . D . 1738 , we find

that Randol ph Tooke was appointed Prov . G . M . for South America ( 1735 ); Roger Lacy was deputed to constitute a lod ge at Savannah , of Georgia , 1735 , and in addition to Bro . Tomlinson for New England under

the Earl of Loudon , John Hammerton was made Prov . M ., for South Carolina in the same year ( 1736 ) . James Watson was Prov . G . M . ofthe Island of Monscrrat , in America , A . D . 1737 , and Capt . William Douglas , for

Islandsin thesame country , where no P . G . M . was appointed . Captain Richard Ri ggs , became P . G . M . of New York , underthesame Grand Master , the Earl of Darnley A D . 1738 .

By reference to the Constitutions of A . D . 1756 , we see that Thomas Oxnard received a deputation to be Prov . G . M , for North America A . D . 1742 , and under the Grand Mastership of Lord Byron , between 1747 and 1751 , the following appointments were