Table Of Content.

TABLE OF CONTENT .

PAGE REVIEWSThe Council Monitor 193 Stories for the Freemason ' s Fireside 193 Catalogue of Designs 193 RED CROSS ORDER ... 193 & 194 THE RED CROSS AND MASONIC CHIVALRIC

DEGREES 194 & 195 EARLY HISTORY OF WHEEL CARRIAGES ... 195 J OTTINGS FROM MASONIC J OURNALS 195 CONSECRATION OF THE ST . J OHN OF 'WAPPING LODGE , NO . 1306 196

THE CRAFTMetropolitan 196 Provincial 196 & 197 Scotland 197 ROYAL

ARCHScotland 197 MARK MASONRYMetropolitan 197 MASONIC MEETINGS FOR NEXT WEEK 197 BIRTHS , MARRIAGES AND DEATHS 198 ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS 198 THE GRAND LODGE OF QUEBEC 198

MULTUM IN PARVO ... 199 ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCEGrand Masters of Ireland 199 The Freemasons'Life Boat 199 Antiquity of Freemasonry 200 An Appeal 200 Hiram Abif 200

We beg to announce that a series of articles entitled " Freemasonry in England" from the pen of our accomplished contributor the " Son of Salathiel" will shortly appear .

Reviews.

Reviews .

___ The Council Monitor ; by JACKSON H . CHASE , 33 . New York Masonic Publishing Company , 432 , Broome Street .

Another useful addition to Masonic literature has been made by Bro . Chase , whose small , but very neat , work exhausts the subject of what our American friends

call " Cryptic Masonry . " It may be necessary to state that the Cryptic degrees are not known or worked in England—in fact they have been adapted from degrees in

the Ancient and Accepted Rite , and are essentially American ceremonies . The first is called the Royal Master , which is preparatory to the second or more important

degree of Select Master , which again is supplemented , in some councils , by a third known as Super-Excellent Master . The officers of a council of R . and S . Masters

are as follows : —1 , Thrice Illustrious Master representing K . S . ; 2 , Right Illustrious Deputy Master as H . K . of T . ; 3 , Illustrious Principal Conductor of the Works as H . A . ;

4 , Treasurer ; 5 , Recorder ; 6 , Captain of the Guard as Acloniram ; 7 , Conductor of the Council as Ahishar ; 8 , Steward ; 9 , Sentinel .

These degrees arc founded upon a tradition that in order to preserve certain sacred writings , thc three Grand Masters who presided at the building of the Temple ,

resolved to construct a secret vault under the sanctum sanctorum—the entrance to which was by nine successive arches , the

ninth arch or chamber being the place wherein the Grand Masters held council together , and to which none others had access ,

Reviews.

The other eight arches were occupied by Adoniram , Ahishar , and twenty-two other brethren , according to their rank—three being posted on each side . Upon one

occasion , however , Ahishar being absent from his post in the eighth arch , an inquisitive brother , traditionally known as Izabud , penetrated to the secret vault , and

would have expiated his indiscretion with his life , had he not revealed the fact that the door was unguarded ; whereupon the

unfortunate Ahishar was incontinently executed for his negligence , and Izabud installed in his stead .

Members of the ineffable degrees will readily perceive how similar this tradition is to that related in the degree of " Intimate Secretary . " The degree of Super-Excellent

Master has no connection with the degrees of R . and S . Master , other than that it refers to the final destruction of the Temple by Nebuzaradan , Captain of the Guard to the

King of Babylon . The Chief Officer represents King Zedekiah ; the second , Companion Gedeliah who represents the governor of that name ,

who was appointed to rule over the remnant of the Jews who remained in Judah during the captivity of their nobler brethren . The other officers are three keepers of the

Temple , Captain of the Guard , three Heralds , threeGuards , aTreasurer , Secretary and Sentinel . Companion Chase also presents his readers with the full ceremonials

for installing the officers of grand and subordinate councils , and also of constituting and dedicating new bodies of the Cryptic Rite . To an English Mason , the publication

of such works will doubtless appear singular —especially as the extracts from thc rituals themselves are copious and suggestive . Nothing , however , of real importance is

divulged , ' and the whole tenor of the disclosures goes far to prove that the degrees are in perfect consonance with the universalis ! teachings of thc Craft . Every

Masonic student should possess this small but comprehensive manual , as an illustration of Freemasonry in one of its least developed

phases . ; and we trust Comp . Chase will eventually reap the reward of his arduous labors in the cause of Masonic instruction .

Stories for tlie Frcemasoifs Fireside ; by Mrs . C . W . TOWLE , of Alabama , Cincinnati . American Masonic Publishing Association , 114 , Main-street .

We have rarely read a book with greater pleasure than Mrs . Towle ' s very interesting volume , which comprises twenty-eight distinct tales of a varied character , some

touchmgly pathetic , and others highly instructive , as well as amusing . We are especially glad to find that a lady is so thoroughly imbued with Masonic sentiments as this handsome

volume indicates , and wc believe that its wide circulation amongst thc wives , sisters , and daughters of Masons will do more to

enlist tlieir sympathies on behalf of the Order than thc most elaborate defence ever written . Mrs . Towle deserves the thanks of the Fraternity for her very valuable book .

Catalogue of Designs ; by E . W . STREETER ( late Hancock & Co . ) , 37 , Conduit-street , Bond-street .

Reviews.

Mr . Streeter has produced a very useful book of the designs used in his world-famed manufactory of diamond ornaments and

jewellery of every description . The illustrations are exceedingly well executed , and afford a good idea of the perfection that has been attained in the beautiful art to

which the book more especially refers . Purchasers living at a distance can therefore accept the work as an accurate guide

to the selection of any article they may require , without the fear of being afterwards disappointed in its workmanship or elegance .

The Red Cross Order.

THE RED CROSS ORDER .

"Verily " Lupus " travels apace , and covers a vast extent of ground . My reply to his question " Can it be shown that the Masonic Red Cross Order has been allied with the Constantinian name more than a few years ? " was mainly

written under an impression that by the words , " a few years , " Lupus meant to indicate a period prior to the revival in 1865 . It was solely for that reason , and not as a proof of antiquity , as he somewhat hastily assumes , that I referred him to

a work upon Freemasonry , published m 18 3 8 , in which the alliance of the Red Cross Order with the Craft is distinctly demonstrated . The words " time-immemorial " as applied to the working of the Order in Scottish K . T . Encampments

must also be interpreted in a similar sense , although I confess being unable to accept the assertion of Lupus that such Encampments were unknown in Scotland before 1800 . My grand * father was a Scottish Knight Templar , and he

died m 1799 . It has always appeared to me that the Order of the Temple in Scotland possesses stronger claims to antiquity than have yet been adduced for the Order in other

countries , but I leave its defence to abler pens , merely remarking , en passant , that the Scottish Templars would have scarcely received into the bosom of their venerable Chapter-General an Order like the Red Cross of Rome and

Constantine , had the latter been simply a concoction of the nineteenth century . I am , however , desirous of placing on record the fact that the present ritual of the Grand Cross is in Bro . Walter Rodwell Wright ' s own handwriting , and

that the ritual of Knighthood is derived from the original ritual forwarded by Bro . Colonel Mc Leod Moore , 33 ° Grand Prior of Canada , K . T ., as the executor of Bro . Wright , to the late Bro . Henry Enily , 33 ° , Grand Chancellor , K . T ., by

whom it was given to one of the present members of the Red Cross Council . Colonel Moore , with whom I am in frequent correspondence , distinctly remembers that the ritual he sent home from Malta was that of the "Red Cross of

Constantine . ' 1 he identity of the ceremonials is thus established , although additions and unessential alterations have undoutedly been since made . I may add that this old ritual is quoted in

my brief "Sketch , & c , " published with the Statutes , page 26 , as follows : — " After the memorable battle fought at Saxa Rubra , on the 28 th October , A . D . , the emperor sent for the chiefs of the Christian

legion , and—we now quote the words of an old ritual— ' in presence of his other officers constituted them into an Order of Knighthood , and appointed them to wear the form of the Cross he had seen in the heavens upon their shields ,

with the motto In hoc signo vinces round it , surrounded with clouds ; and peace being soon after made , he became the Sovereign Patron of the Christian Order of the Red Cross . ' It is

also said that this Cross , together with a device called the Labarum , was ordered to be embroidered upon all the imperial standards . The Christian warriors were selected to compose the