Our American Contemporaries.

man ' s character . In appearance and typography , however , Bro . Brennan ' s magazine may fairly challenge comparison with any of its contemporaries .

The Nezv York Dispatch and Pomeroy ' s Democrat , published in the same city , have each capital Masonic departments ; but we mustdefer further comment on our American

contemporaries for the present , and also upon those in Canada , merely observing that the Masonic Fraternity in the

Dominion are well represented by the Craftsman and the Gavel , both being ably conducted and talented organs of the Craft .

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

Multum in Parbo , or Masonic notes and Queries .

—?—BRO . JOHN YARKER . Bro . Yarker is not the only victim to the tyranny of Bro . Vigne and Co ., of Goldensquare , as they have also suspended the

members of an entire chapter at Bath ; and if they go on in this style , the " Thirty-Thirds " will soon have no " Dale

affrighted slaves to rule over . " I would I were a bird , " but not a Thirty-Third , preferring to remain AN EX-BATH CHAIRMAN .

THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE . The statement submitted by Bro . John Yarker in last week ' s FREEMASON merits the careful consideration of the Craft , as for some time past the high-handed

proceedings of the soi-disant Supreme Council in Golden-square have excited the indignation and disgust of many of their quondam supporters . But Bro . Yarker ' s case marks a climax in their iniquitous career , inasmuch

as this worthy brother has not only been condemned unheard , but positively one of his chief accusers' * was appointed his judge in defiance of the plainest laws of equity ! This fact alone , which cannot be denied , of

course vitiates the unjust decision of the so-called "Holy Emperors of the 33 " with respect to Bro . Yarker , who is not only as good a Rose Croix Master as ever , but what is more , a " Ne Plus Ultra , "

which none of the Golden-square magnates ( or magnets , so far as cash is concerned ) can ever hope to be . It is very much to be desired that Bro . Yarker will , in his forthcoming work , probe the origin of the present

Council of "Sovereign Grand Inspectors General , " as a well-founded opinion prevails that they have no claim whatever to rule the ancient English degrees of the Rose Croix and Kadosh , formerly attached to K . T .

Encampments , by virtue of powers affirmed to have been procured from foreign parts by the late Dr . Goss or "Crucefix , " by which latter cognomen he was better known in Masonic circles .

A VOICE FROM THE WEST . [* We withhold the name , as we can hardly believe so extraordinary a statement . —ED . F . ] A brother informs me that a 34 ° of this

rite fis in existence , called the " Apex ;" thus corresponding with the 90 ° of the " Ancient and Primitive Rite of Misraim . " There are only three holders of the "Apex " in the whole world , who exist by the

succession of triplicate warrants from Frederick the Great of Prussia , signed immediately after the Grand Constitutions . The symbols arc the cord and the dagger ; the ceremonials are very august , and detail the

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

legendary history and object of the degree , which is to draw the funds and energies of all the councils of the world to one great centre . Grave purposes are said to be in

view , but whether such is the expulsion of the Turks from Constantinople , or the establishment of a single empire either on the Continent or in America , is not known . HISTORICUS .

Is it regular for a . Master Mason to wear a jewel ? If so , to what jewel is he entitled ? H . S . L . GURNEY , 897 .

[ Master Masons are not entitled to wear jewels ; but we have seen a five-pointed star worn in some lodges where the discipline is lax , and also at Masonic balls . — ED . F . ]

BRO LUPUS . If Bro . Lupus will have the kindness to wait for a short time , his question respecting Sir Christopher Wren will be answered fully—I hope to his satisfaction . At the

present moment , it will be going rather ahead of the work I am engaged on to reply fully to it , otherwise I should be happy to do so . G . F . FORSYTH .

" E . T . T . " AND RECORDS OF THE ALNWICKE

LODGE . Bro . " E . T . T ., " of Alnwicke , has , in the most fraternal manner , forwarded to me the minute-book of the above lodge , which commences on Sept . 29 th , 1701 .

I have had no time yet to do the valuable volume justice , but have compared the extract given by Bro " E . T . T . " in THE FREEMASON for Nov . 12 th , 1870 ( p . 578 ) , with the original entry , and find it correct

in every particular . The spaces left by Bro . " E . T . T . " are as follows : —The " forfeit" should be " two shillings and sixpence , " and the remaining blanks are person and persons . The words in italics are quite right .

A copy of the " Mason ' s Constitutions " is inserted immediately before the Laws of the Lodge A . D . 1701 , and consequently the document is of much value . I think the lodge was an operative one , but will write

more alter a careful investigation . W . J AMES HUGHAN . P . S . —That it is a genuine and authentic minute-book of the Alnwicke Lodge , I am certain .

QUARTERLY REVIEW" ( p . 657 ) . I have examined Vol . XXV ., page 146 , of the Quarterly Review , and find that although "Vol . XXIV . " was wrong , Bros . Newnham and " Lupus " are correct as to

such a remark really occurring somewhere in the pages of the Quarterly Review ; but the reference there made is not given within inverted commas , as an exact quotation , but is simply brought in in an

offhand sort of manner ; and while it there says , " white leather gloves and a white apron , " with the " Masonic Student , " I would like to sec " the original authority , " for it may simply have it , " a leather apron

and gloves , the giving of which to masons or carpenters then was no more mysterious in the time of Henry VI . than the

giving of gowns , shoes , or any other article of clothing for the outside of the body was to the giving of " hcrryiige " ( see page 641 ) for the inside .

However , to return to the Quarterly Rcviciv , the articlein which thisremarkabout aprons occurs is headed " Normandy — Architecture of the Middle Ages , " and is a

Multum In Parbo, Or Masonic Notes And Queries.

clever and racy production . The following which I copied , is very good ( page 143 ) : " To the common observer every object which is older than his grandmother is a piece of antiquity ; he leaps over centuries ,

and annihilates both time and space . " However , I only had time to glance over it , still I cannot agree with all the author ( who tells us he is not a Freemason ) sayse . g ., his assertion that "Subsequent ages

afford presumptive evidence that the Freemasons were the architects of the proudest Gothic piles" is , I consider wrong ( see page 211 ante ); but as his article was published in 1821 , or about half a century ago , I shall say nothing further .

As to white , "A Masonic Student " seems to put no stress upon it , while Bro . Newnham again does . However , in the very interesting article on " Masonic Curiosities " ( page 660 ) , we find in the 2 nd and 3 rd rules white especially alluded to . W . P . BUCHAN .

BRO . JAMES ANDERSON . I am induced to believe that the name of James Anderson occupies a much more important place m the annals and history of Freemasonry than has been accorded to

him . Through the medium of the columns of THE FREEMASON , in the promulgation of this sketch some facts of a more extended character , touching his early life , habits , talents , and immediate connection with the

Masonic Institution , maybe elicited through the researches of some of your able and industrious contributors . In giving the following sketch a place in your paper you will confer a favour on R . M .

James Anderson , D . D ., and minister of the Seotch Presbyterian Church in London , was born in Edinburgh , Scotland , August 5 th , 1684 , and died in 1746 , aged 62 years . He was a man of high literary ability . As a member of one of the

four old lodges at London , he assisted in the organization and establishment of the first Grand Lodge of England ; and on the 29 th September , 1 7 , was commissioned by the Grand Lodge to collect and compile the history , charges , and

regulations of the fraternity , from the then existing ancient Constitutions of the lodges . On the 27 th December following his work was finished , and the Grand Lodge appointed a committee of fourteen learned brethren to examine and report

upon it . Their report was made on the 25 th of March , 1722 ; and , after a few amendments , Anderson ' s work was formally approved , and ordered to be printed for the benefit of the lodges . This is the now well-known " Book of

Constitutions , " which contains the history of Masonry ( or , more correctly , architecture ) , the ancient charges , the regulations and charges , as the same were in use in many old lodges , Anderson and the Grand Lodge which approved his

work have been frequently accused of having falsified and suppressed many important particulars , and of having misrepresented many of the ancient usages of the Craft . These objections were especially raised by the "Ancient Masons , "

and by their historian , Laurence Dermott . Even the critical Krause , in his admirable work on "The Three Oldest Documents of the Freemasons' Fraternity , " has fallen into this same error . The later researches of Kloss and Keller

have , however , very clearly and distinctly proved that Anderson conscientiously based his work on the ancient records of the lodges then in existence ; while the various manuscripts which have been preserved from destruction , and which have

only at a late day been brought to light , show that he \\ : \ , ^ his work in the true spirit and s- •> ; c of the ancient regulations , and was scrupulously careful to omit nothing that was essential . Even at this day , we find Masonic authors who

endeavour to cast ridicule and derision on the history of Masonry with which his work begins , without taking into consideration the fact that he has merely given us the old legend of the guilds , as he found it in the ancient records . This is