To Our Readers.

TO OUR READERS .

The Freemason is a sixteen-page yveckly newspaper , price 2 d . It is published every Friday morning , and contains the most important and useful information relating o Freemasonry in every degree . Annual subscription in

lhe United Kingdom , Post free , lcj . Brethren m foreign parts , wishing to have this neyvspaper sent them regularly from the office of publication , should , in sending their emittances , add to the 2 d . per yveek the postage 1 , 11 2 oz . neyvspapers .

To Advertisers.

TO ADVERTISERS .

The Freemason has a large circulation in all parts ot the Glebe , its advantages as an advertising medium enn therefor . * , scarcely be overrated . For timis , position , Sro , apply to GEORGE KENNING , 198 , Fleet-st .

Answers To Correspondents.

Answers to Correspondents .

All Communications , Adveitiseinciits , & c , intended for insertion in the Number of the folloyving Saturday , must reach the Office not later than 1 2 o ' clock on Wednesday morning . The folloyving stand over : — Cecil Lodge , 449 , Hitchin ; St . John ' s Lodge , 279 , Leicester ; Friendly Lodge , i * w 3 , Barnsley ; Lodgeof

Tranquillity , 185 , London ; Benevolent Lodge , 205 ,, 'Uignmcuth ; Sincerity Lodge , 174 , London ; Concord Lodge , 757 , Bombay ; Abbey Lodge , 614 , Buiton-on-Trent ; St . Nathalie Lodge , 239 , Ballater ; Lebanon Chapter , 73 , London ; Ccstrian Chapter , 423 , Chester * , and several Scotch Lodge reports , noted under that heading . Several other communications remain for consideration .

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TheFreemason, SATURDAY , J . 22 , 1876 .

Our Royal Grand Master In India.

OUR ROYAL GRAND MASTER IN INDIA .

H . R . H . the Prince of Wales has been to Lucknow , Delhi , ; ind Cawnpore , antl on thc tfnh was again at Madras . He lias been most admirably received , and the natives seem to have vied with Europeans in expressions of loyalty and devotion , lie lias been overground and made a pilgrimage

to spots very dear to English memories and English hearts . He has traversed the country , if not the line of march , on which gallant Havelock and fiery Neil hastened on to the ' * ' rescue , " and where their avenging little columns performed such wonders , and did their dnty so well .

He . has looked on the defences of Lucknow , and beheld traces everywhere of tbe heroism yvhich animated Sir Harry Lawrence and iho . e brave men , and brave women , and loyal natives , who maintained the honour of old England amid the crumbling walls and devastated cantonments of

Lucknow . Hehas stood within the walls of Delhi , and heard Ihedarktale of abominabletreachery . and the glowing recital of what an English army can do , and he will , no doubt , like many more , have kindly remembered these stout hearts yvho are now sleeping so peacefully , ,: life ' s fitful dream being o ' er , " many

on the spots where they fell , like the good kni ghts of old , yvith their " harness on their backs , " doing their duly under every difficulty chivalrously and cheerfully to the last . He has seen Cawnpore , that place yvhere one has sung , —

Babes and women butcheied lie Round those bloodstained walls , " and has , in his always kir . dly disposition , visited the cemetery where jlecp so many gallant and devoted soldiers and strvantsof toe Queen . One little trait of our Grand Master is very

characteristic and not a little touching . In the cemetery rests a very gallant officer of tin : Rifle Jiriaade , a sen ol i'k Id- AJ a 11 » lial air A . Woodiuid , Luut - Cel . Chiii U h , J ,, | 1 M VVIH' -JI ,, ! -. ! , yvlu- tell ; it tile head ol his men " in the y CJ _ > ruuinciiL ol victory . " The _ Prince is repnit . d |< , Ji . n e , , ' ¦ .,. ]* , d - „ ¦¦„ _ .

Our Royal Grand Master In India.

leaves from the tree overhanging his soldier ' s grave , an act as thoughtful as kindly . Though tlie visit of the Prince is intended to cement all classes in that now happily peaceful land , oyving to the peculiar disposition of the native mind

'' to take things easy , " whether good or bad , it is yvell to be reminded of a sterner past amid the shouts of the present , and better and brighter hopes for the future . The account of the 16 th leaves our Grand Master at Madras , and next week we shall continue our narrative of his Royal progress .

The Perpetuation Of Masonic Error.

THE PERPETUATION OF MASONIC ERROR .

It is yvondeifu ! hoyv long error clings to the traciitionsnnd teachings of our human race . It may be exploded and mastered over and over again , it may be clearly refuted and calml y silenced , and yet after a litllewhile it reappears as bold and as brazen as ever . Like the clowns in the pantomime , its

cry alyvays seems to be to its sympathetic audience " Here yve are again ! " And this common law of life holds good in Freemasonry as in the profjue yvorld . It is very difficult to remove , above all to eradicate , Masonic error . As " each dear delusion fades and dies" before the light

ot truth or careful criticism , it leaves us ' ' pro tempore , " only to re-appear after a little cycle of time . In nothing is this fact so evident as in the history of yvhat some have mistakenly called the Locke MS ., though the original document , such as ii is , is not a MS . at all . The latest Masonic

deliverance on the subject we have seen boldl y treats the MS . as a reality , and declares "ore rotundo , " that a " copy was taken by Leland and preserved by him iu the Bodleian Library . This has been recopied aid was first published in Frankfort in 174 S . " Thc yvriter also talks of

the " acute comments of Leland upon it , " and asserts that its date is practicall y 1445 . Now we beg to say that such an averment on the part of a Masonic writer in 1876 is , as Talleyrand said of a mistake , " worse than a crime . " lt is an insult practica / h / to the critical studies of our period

it is in itself absolutely incorrect and unhistorical from beginning to end , and demonstrates that this Masonic scribe , whoever he may be , has not mastered the first rudiments of Masonic archaeology . In Germany such a remarkable assertion will be simply laughed at . Indeed ,

we have never seen more errors in a short statement . So far as modern research can be depended upon , no such MS . exists in the Bodleian , nor does Leland any where say that he had made a copy of it . Indeed , we are inclined to believe that Leland never sayv the MS .,

and noyvhere records it . We have long asked for the passage in Leland which points to this MS ., but so far in vain . No such MS . can be found in the Bodleian , or is knoyvn anywhere to exist , as st'ited—and even Locke ' s letter is noyv very much and propeily questioned . There is a MS .

copy of th . s pamphlet or printed catechism , m the British Museum among the additional MSS ., but it is very late 1 Sth century , and is , we believe , in the handyvriting of Essex , the architect , who seems to have made a small collection of Masonic MSS . But this MS . was copied apparently from

the printed for 111 , ' and not the printed form from it . The document first appeared in the "Gentleman ' s Magazine " for 1753 , and was said to be an " Ancient MS . on Freemasonry , and a copy of a small pamphlet consisting of 12 pages in octavo , printe : l at Frankfort , in Germany , in 1748 . " It

also is stated to have been found on the writing table of a deceased brother , and to have been translated from the German . Now , of this German or English pamphlet nothing is known . The perpetua tor of error states that it was published in 1 748 at Frankfort , but of this fact no

evidence is forthcoming . Kloss doubts it , and K loss ' s doubts are most other peoples' certainties . It ap-a .-ared first of all in the "Gentleman ' s Magazine " in 1753 , as we said just now , aad is n- ]*> rinted by Preston in 1772 , and Hutchinson

in 1775 , having previously ajipeared in the Consi itmiuns of 1767 and 1769 . At ihis moment y ve i- au-uii jiiit < ain liiiiid-a on tlii- Constitutions of 175 ^ . The document professes to be a translation from the German of an English of'jjiii . ti , and , nuUv illiiaUutiiiig tills . sell-evi-

The Perpetuation Of Masonic Error.

dent absurdity , has been handed on as a genuine Masonic evidence . And , though later students have shown its unreal character historically and critically , it is still gravely declared to exist in the Bodleian as copied by John Leland . Thus error is perpetuated ,

and how are we to stop it ? Experts in MSS . have long doubted the " archaisms " of the document , and above all that remarkable vocabulary . Locke ' s letter has never been traced , and the whole " surroundings " of the MS . or pamphlet are full of suspicion . As

an evidence of 1445 it is worthless . In its present form it does not represent 1445 or 1545 , and we do not believe 1645 . - ^ ' ' " P " bability the adaptation by some of those restless , hermetic , alchemical , and Rosicrucian Masons , who , about the middle of the last century , were

adepts at inventing and palming oft Masonic documents on credulous brethren . It may have for its basis an old Masonic or Lodge Catechism , conjoined with an alchemical or hermetic one , and is in fact a " fraus pia " on the Masonic

world , in what it claims and in what it asserts . But such is the perpetuation of error that it survives often all the laborious efforts of the scholar and the critic , and is , as ever , greedily received and industriously perpetuated by the charlatan and sciolist . But in the true interests of

Masonic archaeological science , we protest again to-day against this perpetuation of error , this unscientific and uncritical method of dealing with the antiquities and history of Freemasonry .

The Supply Of Masonic Literature.

THE SUPPLY OF MASONIC LITERATURE .

It was one of the old objections to lodge libraries that books yvere few , and all pretty much the same . "Cui bono ? " was the ancient cry , whenever any more ardent minds raised the question of a lodge library . The plea of no books , or few books , cannot now be made , and if the objection

to lodge libraries is to prevail it must be based on other grounds , viz ., that inertness and immoveability which characterize our excellent Order on the subject of Masonic literature generally . Despite our increase and advance , despite our resthetical tastes , and ritual improvements , we

are inclined to fancy and to believe that the same objections to lodge libraries as were potent with our Masonic fathers will prevail with their Masonic children ! Still , as we know , in things extern to Freemasonry , the way to remedy a grievance , or to amend a shortcoming is not to talk

about it . Talking goes a very little way , and costs nothing ; action takes many steps inadvance , and entails some sacrifices . In order , then , to facilitate the wish , if any , for lodge libraries , in order to meet the want , if any , of Masonic literature , Bro . Kenning offers , as appears in detail in

another column , to supply a certain amount of Masonic literature at a given price to lodges and chapters . And in order to accommodate the less prononce vieyvs and wishes of some lodges on the subject , as yvell to suit the state of their finances , he has arranged four prices for the

beginning of a lodge library , or the addition to an existing one , the lowest £ 2 , the highest £ 10 , the intermediate amounts being £ 7 and £ 5 . We , therefore , call the attention of our readers to this liberal offer , as , no doubt , Bro . Kenning will endeavour to meet the wishes

of lodges and chapters , and to exchange any books he now offers them , if already in their possession , for others . We venture to think the jiroposal is a liberal one , a reasonable one , and a sound one . We have far too long neglected our lodge libraries , we have taken no care of our

archives , minute books are missing , records are wanting , and if they exist they are buried away in inaccessible houses or dusty lofts . We therefore say to all our readers , with the new year let us turn over a fresh leaf in our literary history , and seek to revive among us a taste for Masonic literature . The books so offered are all worthy

of acceptance and purchase . Bro . D . M . Lyon ' s yvork is a book which ought to be in every lodge library ; it is truly a remarkable yvork , and is most important lOr all Masonic students in the information it gives , and the li ght it throws <> : i past centuries of Masonic life and work in North Britain . Bio , Findel ' s is the best Masonic