Original Correspondence.

whether this charge is true ornot , butventurc to affirm that in this instance , a most important matter was prevented by the Board from coming before the Grand Lodge for consideration , and the petitioners were " snubbed , " as " Cipes " would say , in a most off-hand manner . Brethren who attended Grand Lodge last

December , may remember Bro . Stebbing s motion . In his speech he impressed upon brethren thc desirability of getting "fresh blood" in thc Grand Lodge , which could only be obtained by having a change of Grand Masters every few years . I think if any of your readers will take thc trouble to refer back to old calendars , they will find that Bro . Stebbing is

rig ht ; the same names occur year after year , ancl those of men said to be devoted to the interests of " the powers that be , " individually voted against Bro . Stebbing's motion , but with the knowledge I now possess of how matters are conducted at Grand Lodge , I shall certainly support him with my vote next March . It would appear that on one occasion when Bro . Stebbing , some years ago , brought on the

some motion , the Grand Master left thc chair , saying he had been insulted ! Had I known this , I should certainly have voted last time with Bro . Stebbing , as such an act reduces the yearly election of a Grand Master to a solemn farce . Bro . Stebbing , I believe , has only to persevere , and his efforts will be rewarded by success ; witness the large minority on his side last December . It should also be

remembered that Grand Lodge favours arc not distributed to country Masons , except in very small proportion . Now , is this fair ? I would not for a moment argue that country Masons generally work as hard as London Masons , but I say there arc an immense number of hard-working , zealous Masons to be found in the country who never get the least

notice , while it is notorious that men get the highest promotion in Grand Lodge , who are not entitled to that position from the work they have done as regards Masonry . Fearing I have trespassed too much on your space for correspondence . I am , Sir and Brother , yours fraternally , M . M

Rosicrucian Society Of England

ROSICRUCIAN SOCIETY OF ENGLAND

At a meeting of the Council held at the Freemasons ' Tavern , London , on Thursday , April Sth , 1 S 69 , it was resolved , that Capt . Irwin , 30 ° , of Bristol , be permitted ( in conjunction with others ) , lo form a college at Bristol

111 connection with this society , such college lo lie under Frater Irwin ' s immediate charge as Chief Adept , tho number of members lo be limited , with a proviso that the Council may at any time remove such restriction and extend the number thus limited .

A quarterly meeting oi the Provincial College at L'ris'ol and neighbouring counties , was held at Weston-super-Mare , on Wednesday , December 29 th , iSGy , under die presidency of Frater Irwin , Chief Adept . The notice convening the meeting was read hy I *' rater lienjn . Cox , lS ' , Provincial Secretary General , and after the business as per agenda paper had been disposed of hy the

members uf the College , the following aspirants to the grade of Zclalor were approved , viz . -. — . Bros . Rev . Robert Charles Lathom Browne , 18 '' , the Rectory , W . S .-Mare ; lolin Townsend , lS ' , Commander Roval Navy , W . S .-Mare ; William Henry Davis , . M . A ., I ' S ' , Solicitor and Registrar of C . Court , W . S .-Mare ; F . Vizard , iS ° , Wine Merchant , W . S .-Mare ; Thus . Clarke

, lb " , Publisher and Proprietor of the W . S .-Mare Gazette , W . S .-Mare ; E . Gregory , lS ° , Town Commissioner , W . S .-Mare ; Henry Wiltshire , Lieut ., Vol , Kngincci * Corps , Bristol ; Sidney Jones , 18 ' , Outfitter , oie ., W . S .-Mare ; Thos . lieedle , Stationer , & c ., W . S .-Mare ; and William Thomas Male , Nailsea , Bristol , of whom the following , being present , received the Rite of

Perfection—Bros . J . Townsend , W . H . Davies , T . Clarke , K . Gregory , S . Jones , T . Beedle , and W . T . Male . This being the obligatory meeting , the Chief Adept appointed the following Fraters to various offices in lhe College , Frater . Major General G . II . Mimibee , 18 ' , Past Celebrant to the ollice of Suffragan ; ]•' rater Townsend , Celebrant ; Fraler Davis , Treasurer General ; Frater

II . Cox , Provincial Secretary General ; Frater T . Clarke , C . of Novices ; Frater f ' ones , 1 st Ancient ; Frater Beedle , 2 nd , Ancient ; Frater Gregory , Organist ; Fraler Male , Acolyte . It was resolved on the reecommendation of Frater Irwin , Chief Adept of the College , to establish ; t Rosicrucian library and museum in connection with

this Provincial College , and the Chief Adept and Provincial Secretary General , kindly offered lo take charge of any Masonic or Rosicrucian papers , books , coins , 01 other gifts ( o die ; society , until a proper receptacle he provided for the same . Other business of importance was deferred until the next quarterly meeting , to be held at Bristol iu March 1870 .

BR EAR 1 - . — Ei'i' . ss COCOA . — Grateful anil < omforling . . -The very agreeable character of this preparation has rendered it a general favourite . The Civil Service G ' . izctte remarks : " By a thorough knowledge of Hie naUir-d laws which govern the operations of digestion and mitrilion , and hy a careful application of lhe fine

properlies ol well-selected cocoa , . Mr . Jqips lias provided our break fast tables with a delicatelv-lVavouveil beverage which may save us many heavy doctor ' s bills . " Made simply with boiling water or milk . Sold only in tin-lined packets , labelled J AMKS KITS & Co ., Iloma-opalhie Chemists , Loudon .- | Ad \ I . ]

The Crusades And Secret Societies.

THE CRUSADES AND SECRET SOCIETIES .

The era of the Crusades was also the era of secret societies . Beginning with the Knights of the Temple , whose mode of reception was generally in secret , and thc ceremonies attending the installation of the Grand Master ancl the Grand Officers , likewise of a secret character ; we find the Rosicrucians and thc literary guild of thc Troubadours rising among

many others . The Templars , however , apart from their secrecy of receptions and installations , do not appear to have possessed what is called " secrets " in the usual acceptation of thc word . In their secrecy they intended simply to impress forcibl y upon thc minds of thc aspirants thc sacred and inviolable character of the Oi'dcr . Thc utter

nonsense alleged against them at thc time of thendestruction is so evident that it is almost an insult to common sense to critically . discuss it . The Rosicrucians and Troubadours , however , were decidedly secret societies . Thc origin of thc first is stated to have taken place during a Saladin truce when certain eminent Mussclmans and Christian

Doctors formed a society for imparting to each other the secrets of medicine which they possessed . The age being one in which both sects firmly believed in the influence of spirits , thc possibility of finding thc philosopher ' s stone and the elixir of life , rendered necessary certain preparatory stages of

instruction , which finally produced what is now known as thc nine degrees ofthe Sun . The Christian members upon their return to Europe introduced the Rosicrucian system into the colleges , and Albertus Magnus and Aponi seem in Padua to have given much attention to thc propagation of the

mysteries . Thc Mussclmans on their part were not backward in sowing thc seed in their schools , and in consequence we find by the Saracen conquest of Spain , the two great necromantic countries were Spain and Italy . Paracelsus derived many of his peculiar doctrines from thc Rosicrucians , and we

know in later days an English Astunole gave out that he was one of the elect * . Astunole ' s connexion with the Rosicrucians led a writer in Chambers ' Encyclopedia to fancy that he was the founder of Freemasonry as now speculatively practised . We think , however , from what Astunole has written

that at least the first two degrees were 111 existence before his time ; he makes no mention of a third , which evidently appears to have been of a later date . The principles of the first and second degrees can be understood by the whole world , but the historical references in the third and partly in the

second are an unwritten book to thc Chinese and Hindoos . Whether Astunole revised the two first degrees , and gave them their present form of ritual , we do not enter upon the question of . There is little doubt that the Troubadours were a secret society , and Rosette appears to think that

their purpose was to destroy the power ofthe Pope , He assumes that the Templars belonged to this confederacy , but his reasons are not given , nor do we think it probable from their steadfast and bold espousal of the Papal cause . We have abundant evidence in the Troubadour remains of their

contempt for priestcraft , and the literary guild , whether represented by the Troubadours or by Dante , Boccacio or Chaucer , does not fail to hold monk and mm up to contempt . The inlluence of the singers upon public affairs of the middle ages is notorious , and paved the way for the Reformation .

It is said that the reformation in Scotland owed more to the satire of Sir David Lindsay of thc Mount , than to the lirey vituperation of Knox . The one ploughed the ground , lhe other sowed the seed . The Building Fraternity , however , appears more

prominent in the era of the Crusades , and there can exist no doubt that some great revival took place in it at this time . Rude wooden structures gave place to noble palaces , the stable-like church lo the gorgeous cathedral , strict principles were introduced , and the hap-bazard , happy-go-lucky style of

architecture gave place to an uniform plan . We do not place so much faith in the traditions of the Order as to its then secrecy . We are more inclined to believe that it wns then secret , from the spirit ofthe limes and lhe jealousy of imparling to those who had not gone through the same ordeal , ( hat peculiar

knowledge which was only to be acquired by long study and probation . Whether the Masons bad the same ritual which we now possess we cannot for a moment admit , but that they had secret modes of recognition , certain received doctrines , and a

code of laws governing the whole Fraternity we cannot deny . An after age brought in the purely speculative element with its rituals , but adopting the ancient landmarks , laws , and modes of recognition . — From a Paper by Anthony tl'Neat IIaye , on '' ' I he Representatives of the Crusaders . "

The Rosicrucian.

The Rosicrucian .

A TALE OE COLOGNE . ( Reprinted jrom the Dublin University Magazine . ) VII .- —THE HOPE DECEIVED . Fearfully did morning dawn on the eyes of the murderer . He had regained his chamber unobserved , and there he crouched in its most gloomy

nook . His frenzy had passed away , and left thc freezing coldness of despair . The darkness was terrible to him , and yet when the light of morning came he shrank from it in horror , and buried his face in his garments to shut out the fearful glare . All clay he remained motionless . Margareta ' s loud

weeping came to him from within . From her brother ' s bolted door , she thought he had departed on one of his usual rambles , and Basil heard his name repeated often , mingled with Isilda ' s—for the last had been as a sister to Margareta , and deep was the sorrow of thc gentle girl .

Basil heard his sister ' s sobs ; but they fell idly on his stony cars . Many sounds rose up from the street— the widow ' s cry , thc orphan ' s moan , and thc despairing lament of the houseless and homeless —but all were nothing to him . He kept the same immoveable attitude until daylight waned , and

then he rose up and lit the Fire on his hearth , Brighter and brighter grew the blaze , and wilder gleamed the eyes of the student . He swayed his body to and fro with low murmuring , and then he passionately invoked the Salamandrine . " The sacrifice is complete—I am now half divine

—I have no bond to earth—my soul is free . Why delaycst thou , O spirit ? Come , teach me ; let me know thc past . Give me wisdom—I thirst!—I thirst ! Let mc become as a god in knowledge I " But thc vision came not—there was no voice . "Spirit of Fire ! art thou deaf to me still ? I

have done all—1 have torn myself from earth—I have become what men would loathe . Hear meanswer mc , or I die ! " groaned the student . Wreaths of dusky vapour overshadowed the Fire , and from them proceeded a melancholy voice . " O mortal , sin has entered thine heart ; blood

is on thy hand , and the polluted can have no fellowship with thc pure . Thine eyes may behold us no more for ever !" A fearful shudder passed through thc student ' s frame . "It is false ! Cursed spirits , ye have deceived

mc !" " It is not we who have deceived thee , but thine own soul , " answered the Salamandrine . "We arc not evil ; unseen , we would have watched over thee thy whole life through . It was thou who didst long after what is permitted but to few—to hold commune with the invisible . To do this , with

safety , man must keep a heart pure as fearless , and such was not thine . Thou didst seek us—wc . allured not thee . Blame not us , therefore , but thy own weakness . Thou bast sinned , and henceforth wc are invisible to thee !" "Woe , woe !* ' cried Basil , in agony ; " have I then lost all ? Beautiful spirit , guide of my life , have mcrcv !—forsake me not ' . "

" I do not forsake thee , O poor mortal . '" answered the voice , sadly . " It is thou who art no longer able lo behold me . We mourn over the sinner , but it is his own guilt which darkens his eyes , and shuts out our beauty from him ; we are unchanged . " " Have 1 lost all ? " repeated the student , in tones of thrilling despair .

" Have I lost all those godlike powers so bitterly won ? And must I behold ihee no more , beneficent spirit ?" " Xo more—no more , * ' repliedthemoitrnfulaccents of the Salamandrine , and a faint chorus , like the sighing ofthe wind , echoed plaintively—* ' No more , O poor mortal , no more ! " '

I he vapour swept away from the Fire , and the student was left with his despair . He fell on his face and * wept .

VIII .- —THE END OK AM .. Two days after lhe terrible Fire , some who loved and pitied the desolate Margareta , forcibly entered the student ' s room . They found Basil dead . He lay on lhe floor , his marble face upturned to their honor-stricken view . There might have

been agony in the last fearful moment , for the hands were tightly pressed upon the heart ; but all was calmness now . The features had settled into their stilly and eternal repose . How the spirit parted , none knew , save I liin who gave it , and who had now reclaimed His gift . The book of Michael Meyer lav beside the student , aad firmly grasped

in the stiffened fingers , was a long tress of woman ' s hair . More than this all was mystery . Many years after , when the memory ofthe student uf Cologne had long been forgotten , an aged mm died in a convent , not far from the city . It was Margareta , the only sister of Basil Wolgemuth , the Rosicrucian . 1 INI . a .