The " Red Cross " And Masonic Chivalric Degrees.

A . D . 1838 to connect the "Red Cross" with Constantine . What was the character of the degree he and the others received from the old members of the original Masonic Order ? AVas Constantine introduced in the ritual , and are

there any documents preserved dating at the " Union " or before then that connect this " Red Cross" with the Constantine name ? I am told there are , and if not , and " Lupus " is correct , I should soon , so far as my opinion is concerned ,

throw the title overboard . I do not , however , apprehend any such result , as I know of few to be compared with Bro . " R . AA . L . " for Masonic erudition and research and the brethren who revived this degree were actuated by motives

that did them credit , and not with any desire to create ariva / degree , as the working of the " Red Cross " is decidedly provided for in the Articles of Union of the Grand Lodge of England . 6 . How could one or more of the members

of the Old Body create " Knights Grand Cross , " & c , & c-The " Minutes " preserved evidently prove that the members were in the habit of conferring the " Noviciate Knight" on worthy brethren , and what is more to the point , Bro . Richard

J ebb had not only authority from the " High Council" to create more than six Noviciate Knights ( the number by virtue of being a Grand Officer ) , but also permission to install two of such Noviciate Knights to be of the Grand Cross within the limits of British India .

7 . AVhat is the Old Body ? The only old Masonic Red Cross of which I , or any brother , to my knowledge , has seen any evidence of are certainly not of the Constantinian Orders .

The Old Body I allude to is the Masonic Red Cross under the Grand Masters / have named from about 1780 to the rule of H . R . H . the Duke of Sussex . I know of no other Red Cross Order Masonically under such authority ,

nor does Bro . " Lupus , so that I fail to see the point in his question , and think it superfluous , as he must know I do not believe in its succession irom any Order in Chivalry . AA ith respect to the " Constantinian Orders , " I know really

nothing , not having investigated the matter . Bro . Matier , a most intelligent Mason is now engaged in examining the records of the ancient Chivalric Order , and I apprehend much good will result from the investigation , as Bro . Matier is an accomplished and zealous Knight .

8 . AA'hat is the evidence at present only in the / lands of a few ? I do not know . No doubt " time will make mention . "

9 . I observe Bro . Hughan carefully alludes only to the connection with Freemasonry , which nobody doubts . Just so , Bro . " Lupus , " especially as it is the only connection I have evidence for .

10 . AVe want to know what connection it has with anything else ? So do I ! So do I , emphatically ! As also to know what connection Knights Templar have with anything else .

11 . AVhat is the conclusive information in Bro . Little ' s history . The excerpts from the records of the Red Cross Order , which I have alluded to in the Freemason ' s Magazine for May 23 rd , 1868 , and

which were never controverted ; with respect to the " Sepulchre , " thc records mentioned allude to this degree having been given . At least , I believe so : but have not time to refer to them

just now . I would like to know a little more about the Knights 01 the Red Cross who met for several years at the Crown Tavern , Clerkenwell , after H . R . H . thcDuke ofSussex ceased to take interest in the Chivalric degrees .

In conclusion , I hope Bro . "Lupus" will continue to address himself to these Masonic Chivalric degrees inquiries as an archaeologist , as he is pre-eminently fitted to do so .

"AVE are not in the habit of ' puffing , ' more especially medicines ; but we cannot withold our testimony in favour of Perry Davis ' s Vegetable Pain Killer , which wc have found invaluable in the family , and we believe it to be all it is recommended . "—Roman Citizen .

Early History Of Wheel Carriages.

EARLY HISTORY OF WHEEL CARRIAGES .

The following interesting facts have been gathered from Adams' works on English carriages ( 1837 ) : — Some of the earliest records of wheel carriages are to be found in the Old Testament ; though , as it confines its mention of them to the simple

fact of such things being in use , no light is thrown upon what was their construction . The " chariot" and "waggon" are both named in Genesis ; Joseph rode in the second chariot of Pharaoh as a mark of peculiar dignity , and waggons were dispatched from the court of

Egypt , to convey thither the wives and' little ones of the family of Jacob . From this , as well as the fact of the brethren of Joseph bearing their corn away on asses , we may infer that wheel carriages , even of the lowest description , were not in general use among the common

people at that time . Later in the Israelitish history , we hear of the trouble caused in the host of Pharaoh , in his pursuit of the Israelites towards the Red Sea , by the wheels being detached from his chariots , so that " they drove heavily . " Detaching the wheels would seem to

indicate that the wheels were fast on the axle , which turned beneath the body , and the axle being thrown out of the thole-pins , the chariot would become a sledge . Chariots at that period , and subsequently , were used principally for war purposes : all

public sports tended to the encouragement of this one of their master passions , and the sounds of chariots and horsemen were seldom heard but as tlie heralds of battle . Even the chariots themselves were made to assist in the work of destruction , being armed with hooks and scythes ,

by which they made considerable devastation , mowing down men wherever they came in contact . At a later period , other carriages of an inferior kind were introduced among the Jews for agricultural purposes ; being used principally for thrashing out corn ( a method still practised

in Arabia ) , and they were called carts or drags . The word cart is most probably derived from the Latin carclta , a diminutive of carrus . Beckman , in his " History of Inventions , " tells us that the earliest Roman vehicle on record was the arccra , which was a covered carriage used

by sick and infirm persons , afterwards supplanted by the more luxurious lectica ( litter ) . A later invention was the carpculitm , the form of which may be seen on antique coins , where it is represented as a two-wheeled car , with an arched covering which was sometimes hung with costly

cloth . Still later were introduced the carrucal , first mentioned by Pliny , but so little is known of them that antiquarians are uncertain whether they had one wheel like our wheel-barrows , or ( as is more probable ) four wheels . It is known , however , that they were richly decorated , often

with solid silver curiously engraved and carved , and that senators and people of condition were carried in them . The Theodosian Code allowed them to civil and military officers as a mark of dignity , and it was considered an honor to ride in those which were remarkably high .

There is a distinguishing difference between the construction of ancient and modern ,

carnages m one respect : —the greater proportion of the former must have been made principally for the display of strength and agility in their management , rather than for the purpose of bodily ease . Carriages really deserving the name , carrying a person without acquiring his constant and

dexterous management , were seldom used except at public festivals . In Kennett ' s " Roman Antiquities , " are engravings of several cars , as they appeared when in procession to grace one of the triumphs . The first car contained the spoils and treasure ; the second , a group of Roman nobles , and the third , the hero of the

day . The Romans had their chariot races like the Greeks , though the far-famed Olympic games carried away the prize of preeminence , so that the heroes of Rome were fain to enter the lists . Sentonius chronicles the Emperor Nero , as engaging in the Olympic games , and riding in a chariot drawn by ten horses abreast . The skill in the use of these chariots must have been dis-

Early History Of Wheel Carriages.

played in turning them without breaking the wheels or axles , of which there must have been some danger , as their racecourse was longitudinal instead of circular . The earliest representations of the chariots of Greece are found on the bas-reliefs among the

Elgin marbles . They were the product of the time when Pericles held sway over Athens , nearly five centuries before Christ . By far the nearest approach to the ingenuity of contrivance of modern times , is to be found in one of the time-defying frescoes of Pompeii . It is of a wine cart , and although it aided the services

of the inferior orders amongst the people , it displays a neatness and ingenuity far exceeding that of the cars and ornamental vehicles of the time . The four wheels are of equal size , and the contrivance which allows them to turn with safety—an open arched space in the centre of the cart—is sinrnle and practicable .

Jottings From Masonic Journals.

Jottings from Masonic Journals .

[ Under this head we purpose giving weekly brief paragraphs of news culled from our Masonic contemporaries . ] THE Masonic Tidings , published at Warsaw , New York , is now edited by the M . W . Bro . John

AV . Simons , P . G . M ., a Mason of high eminence and great talent . Bib . John Ransom is the managing editor . THE Evergreen , edited by Bro . E . A . Guilbert , M . D ., P . G . M ., at Dubuque , Iowa , combats learnedly and energetically the scepticism which has lately

arisen respecting thc antiquity of Freemasonry . Acknowledging the changes and modifications produced by time , our able contemporary contends that " the stately march of the institution can be mapped out from a pro-Christian . period through thc solemn , voiceful aisles of the centuries to the living present . " What sayest thou , O Leo ?

THE Grand Master of New York , Bro . Gibson , has just issued a sensible edict , to thc effect that a candidate rejected by one lodge shall not be accepted by another without the consent of the lodge which rejected him . THE Masonic Tidings asks us to state the

approximate numbers of the English Craft . In reply , wc say , 1240 lodges actually working , and 120 , 000 members . Of these two-thirds are located in England , and the rest in our colonies and possessions . In our article in No . 37 on Lord Zetland ' s career , we gave an approximate estimate . The statements put forward by some of our contemporaries—viz .,

150 , 000 Masons in England , 100 , 000 in Scotland , and 50 , 000 in Ireland arc absurd . There are . not 150 , 000 in the three Kingdoms . Oun lively contemporary , the New York Figaro , approves of our sentiments as to a " Council of Rites , " and advocates the creation of a similar body for thc United States .

THE Philadelphia Keystone enumerates its exchanges , thc LONDON FREEMASON being apparently the only representative of Europe , and says : " Our earnest wishes for tlieir several and individual prosperity is the cordial salutation wc extend to

them . " On behalf of Europe , we bow and heartily reciprocate . THE Masonic Record , an extremely well-conducted monthly , is edited by Bro . Frizzcll . Its contents arc of varied interest , and its " Tidings from thc Craft " an exhaustive resume' of Masonic

intelligence . THE Elevator , of San Francisco , an organ of the coloured population , has started a Masonic column and advocates the recognition of coloured Masons . THE Landmark , New York , has an earnest appeal in favour of the projected Hall and Asylum Fund for the State of New York .

THERE arc two musical lodges in New York , " Mozart " and "St . Cecile . " An effort is now being made to establish one in London , which deserves to prove successful . Its proposed name is that of the sweet singer of David , " Asaph . " BRO . John AV . Simons is now the Masonic editor ofthe New York Dispatch . We greet him well , and are proud to hail him as a man and a Mason .

THE Franc Macon of Paris , edited by our esteemed Brother Dcchcvaux Dumesnil , is severe upon thc free-thinking clement in French Masonry . Some of thc brethren tried to change the name of the Parisian lodge " Bonaparte , " because thc

madman Prince Pierre shot a foolish fellow who insulted him in his own house j by all means let us change the names of our " Franklin" and " Lafayette " lodges , should a-man of the . % same name commit a crime . Tlie attempt was . defeated . ANSON BURLINGAME . the American Ambassador